
■ C7^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 7640193 



penmalife* 




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REPORT 



CHRISTIAN MISSION 



UNITED STATES ARMY, 






VINCENT COLYER, 



PRESENTED TO 



ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, NEW YORK, 



1 



AND OTHER SOCIETIES, 

From April 18G1 to August 18G2, 

INCLUDING TIIR BATTLES OF BULL RUN, ROANOKE ISLAND AND 

NEWBERN. \ 



gtto U r Ii : 

GEORGE A. WHITE HO RNE, PRINTER 
119 Fulton & 42 Ann Streets. 



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He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own g'lory : but he that 
seeketh His glory that sent him, the same is true, and no un- 
righteousness is in him." — St. John vii : 18. 




LICATE. 









;•: & : : 






2_.,.,_ 



REPORT. 



Our work commenced with the arrival of the Sixth Massa- 
chusetts Regiment of Volunteers in New York on their way to 
defend the Capital, April 18, 1861, the day before the attempted 
massacre in Baltimore. Next day we visited the 7th Reg't, 
National Guard, and so on fur three months, we continued 
to visit, hold meetings for prayer, singing and exhortation, dis- 
tributing Tracts, Testaments, and Hymn Books to the regiments 
in and about or passing through New York city, up to 32d 
of July, the day of the news of the battle of Bull Run. 

Many a camp, in the vicinity of New York — at Elm Park — 
East New York — Bergen Point — Staten Island — Disbrow's — 
and the Park Barracks, were found places full of joy, and rich 
with the presence of the Saviour, by the Army Committee of the 
New York Y. M. C. A. during those three first months of the 
commencement of this war for the maintenance of our nation- 
ality. 

Immediately on the receipt of the news of the battle of 
Bull Run, in company with Mr. Frank W. Ballard, I left for 
that new field of duty. I continued at Washington, assisted 
for over three weeks by Rev. Franklin S. Rising, P. Harwood 
Vernon, Dr. Winchell and Noble Heath, Jr., and afterwards 
alone, for six months, as agent of the N. Y.Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association. I visited the Hospitals at Washington, 
Georgetown and Alexandria, and the regimental hospitals in 
the camps, and held constant daily intercourse with the chap- 
lains at my office and in their camps, and was received with 
favor almost everywhere. 

The Government afforded me every encouragement, giving 
me at first a free pass on the Railroads, and afterwards privi- 
lege to visit every portion of the army of the United States, 
and if the enemy would permit it, even to go through our 




lines and visit our sick and wounded in the Rebel hospitals 
and prisons. The following order being- my authority : 

Head Quarters of tue Army, 

Washington, Aug. 30, 1861. 

Mr. Vincent Colyer, of the Army Committee of the New York Young Men's 
Christian Association, in tlie prosecution of his benevolent labors in the camps 
and hospitals, will be permitted to pass through the United Slates lines at all 
times, and is commended to the courtesy of the troops. 

By command WINFIELD SCOTT. 

H. VAN RENSSELAER, Col's. Aide de Camp. 



I soon realized, " the harvest truly was great, but the labor- 
ers few," and wrote the following letter, which under the bless- 
ing of God was the origin of the United States Christian Com- 
mission. 



Washington City, D. C, October 1, 1SG1. 

Dear Sir : Having been occupied for these last ten weeks in the army, at 
Washington, as representative of the New York Association, the necessity for a 
much more extended organization, in order to meet, even approximately, the 
Christian wants of the soldier, has so impressed itself upon me, that I cannot 
avoid writing to you for aid. I wish t» ask the Committee of which you are the 
honored Secretary, to earnestly consider the propriety of calling a general con- 
vention, at some central place, at the earliest practicable day. to consider the 
spiritual wants of the young men of our army, in order that the same may be 
provided for by the appointing of a " Christian Commission," whose duty it shall 
be to take entire charge of this work. 

The Government has now over 250,000 men enlisted, the far greater m ijority 
of whom are young men, and not a few of them members of our Association. 
These young men are risking their lives for their country, exposed to constant 
hardships, and subjected to all the temptations and debasing influences of camp 
life. They are liable to sickness .and prolonged suffering from wounds, in hospi- 
tal, a. id to sudden death upon the battle-field. To meet the great wants of these 
young men, under circumstances which so urgently call upon our Christian sym- 
pathies and gratitude, (for they are assembled in defense of our homes, our 
rights, and our government !) no adequate exertion has yet been made. Our 
Society in New York has raised and expended $2,000, and forwarded books, 
tracts, and hospital stores worth $3,000 more. The Washington City Society 
has had its members actively employed in the camps around this city, until the 
army became so large that it was entirely beyond its reach, and it had exhausted 
its means. Your Society has sent a deputation to inquire into the matter and 
report. Other Societies, of which we have no advices, (except the Boston, 
which has done! a good work for the navy,) have doubtless done much. Yet it 
is all but as a drop in the bucket, compared with what ought to be done, and 
what the great societies whom you represent are capable of doing. 



Let me inclose a few brief extracts from letters I have received from chap- 
lains : 

" Allow me, in behalf of the regiment of which I am chaplain, to thank your Asso- 
ciation for the books and tracts so kindly provided for the men. Could the friends of 
Jesus know how gratefully these books and tracts are received hy our soldiers, they 
would he prompted to increased liberality. * * * If these works, 

added to the labors of the chaplains, accomplished no more than to save the religious 
portion of our army from backsliding, it would prove a mighty work ; but their 
potency for good in increasing the morale, of the army can only be measured by 
those who have an opportunity to judge of their elfects. 

W. P. Stiucklanp, Chaplain l~th N. Y. Volunteers.' 1 

" May God bless you in your labor of love and charity. I believe the seed of truth 
sown during this war will be the means of awakening many souls to Christ. Pray for 
me that my faith fail not. 

J. II. Cakpenteh, Chaplain 1st Ileg't. D. C. Vols.'' 

" I rejoice in the Lord at your ' labor of love." In my opinion this is a work second 
only in importance to the appointment of the highest officers in command. Blessings 
ifpon you and your true yoke-fellows everywhere, for trying to introduce more of the 
Spirit of Cod in our ranks. Camp life abounds with temptations, and the soldier's 
calling is demoralizing in the extreme. 

W. H. Cudwoktii, Chaplain 1st Mass. Volunteers.'" 

" I would do much violence to my own feelings of gratitude did I not avail myself 
of this opportunity of thanking you, on behalf of myself and also the religious por- 
tion of the lilst regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, for your very timely supply of 
religious books, Ac. No person can safely calculate the religious destitution of the 
army, unless they had practical experience of living in camp. Without such an agen- 
cy as this which you hold here, many persons would suffer severely. 

'• May the Most High prosper your work of faith, and bless you and those who are 
associated with you in so good and so necessary a cause. 

R. W. Oliver, Chaplain ?>\ si Ileg't. Pa. Volunteers.' 1 ' 1 

I could add many more like these, but this will suffice to show how the work 
here is regarded by those who are most interested and the best capable of judg- 
ing of its necessity and usefulness. 

It will be seen, then, that I do not ask you to try an experiment, but to con- 
tinue and enlarge a work which is already practically under way, and success- 
fully working ; but which has now grown so large that we cannot do better than 
resign it into hands capable of giving it the dimensions it deserves, and I trust 
will receive from you. 

I need not urge the necessity of prompt as well as decisive action — for it must 
be apparent to every one, that whatever is done effectively in this army work 
must be done quickly. At any moment, here,, a terrible battle may take place, 
and all along our lines, (in the West particularly,) engagements are daily occur- 
ring ; besides, the troops are continually in motion, and the habits of the men 
are forming daily, either for good or evil. 

The work is so extensive and needs such large resources, that single Associa- 
tions can do but little, and for them to act independently of each other, is to 
increase vastly the expenses while the labor accomplished will be less ; and 
while some sections will receive too much attention, others will be comparative- 
ly neglected. 

I need not say what a blessing such a work will prove to the Associations them- 
selves. It is well known that many of these societies are now languishing for 



the want of means to meet their current expenses ; and it might reasonably be 
asked, seemingly, how can they, then, undertake a new and extensive work like 
this'.' The answer is, they can readily collect money for this special army mis- 
sion, when they canuot for anything else. The community is so sensitively alive 
to the want of the soldiers— nearly every city, town, village, or family, having 
their own citizens and members in the army — that the subject takes immediate 
hold of their sympathies, and will command their ready aid and support. We 
have tried it, and found it so. 

Having had a personal interview with the President of your Committee, and 
learned his hearty readiness to co-operate in this work, I visited Boston, and 
there met with an equally cordial response. That Society will send an able del- 
egate, and our New York Society will select a prominent citizen and member to 
represent it, and I doubt not, if the time would have admitted, other societies 
would have promised the same. I therefore leave the matter in your hands, and 
pray that a Convention of all the Young Men's Christian Associations of the Loy- 
al States may be called at an early day. 

With Christian esteem, fraternally yours, VINCENT COLYER. 

Chairman Com. on Correspondence with Convention New York Y. M. C. A. 

To James Grant, Esq.. 

Sec. of the Cow. for calling Convention Young Men's Christian Association of 
the United States, Philadelphia, J'a. 

Having been continuously at this centre, with abundant opportunities of obser- 
vation, and feeling strongly impressed with the necessity of united and energetic 
action in this great work, I heartily concur in the proposition presented by 
Brother Colyer with the view of securing such concerted action. 

M. H. MILLER. 
President Washington City Y. M. Christian Association. 

I attended the Convention, as a delegate, November Kit It 
1861, which formed the Christian Commission, and as one of 
the committee, assisted in naming the Commissioners elected, 
and in drawing up the Resolutions, under which they are em- 
powered to act. 

I then made frequent visits to Philadelphia, receiving 
great help from the Army Committee of the Episcopal 
Church Publishing Society of Pennsylvania, through the Rev. 
Dr. Vaughan, of that city. I addressed large and highly atten- 
tive meetings in the leading Episcopal Churches there, and 
the liberal sums of money that were received were invested in 
books and suitable reading matter and given to me for distri- 
bution among the soldiers. 

The Brooklyn Young Men's Christian Association, com- 
menced in December, 1861, to make me their agent, and from 



that time up to June, 1862, I continued to receive large sup- 
plies of hospital stores, hooks, &c, and to have a portion of my 
expenses paid hy that Society. I addressed a number of meet- 
ings, especially convened for that purpose, in a number of the 
leading Evangelical churches and to large and liberal audi- 
ences in that city. 

As a proof of the way in which the gifts of Christian friends 
were regarded in the army of the Potomac, I submit a few 
letters : 

Camp Seminary, Fairfax Co., Va., Sept. 9th, 1861. 

Vincent Coi.yer. Dear Sir : — It is my pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of 
various articles for the benefit of the sick of the First Regiment, N. J. V.. from 
the Young Men's Christian Association through you. Allow me to thank the 
members of that Association for their kindness as thus expressed. 

The articles have been of great benefit to the sick in this regiment, adding 
materially to their comfort, and hastening in no small degree their recovery. 

Wishing you God speed in your labor of love, I remain your obedient ser- 
vant, L. W. OAKLEY, Act'g. Surg. 1st. Reg't., N. J. V. 

:o: ■ 



Camp Newton, Oct. 14, 1 SGI. ) 
32d Reg't. N. Y. Vols. j 

Vincent Colyer, Dear Sir: — I can give you but a faint idea of the avidity 
with which the books you left were received, when I first visited the various 
rooms in ihe hospital department. The feeble turned to me or raised from their 
beds and earnestly solicited a book. So earnest was their request that I loaned 
them nearly all I had. leaving only ten volumes for the well in the regiment. I 
have rarely performed an act that gave me more joy. I wished the donors could 
have been with me and shared the happiness their benevolence merits. 

Our camp is full of intelligent readers, who would most joyfully welcome and 
receive similar books. But I must do the best I can with what you left me un- 
til, through your kindness, other contributions from the sympathizers with the 
army reach us. God bless the donors and all contributing to such a needed supply. 
This is the first donation of books of general literature we have received. Your 
jellies and comforts for the sick came most timely. They were greatly needed 
as our supply would not admit of use only in extreme cases ; yet many slowly 
convalescing much needed just what you left. They shall be faithfully distribu- 
ted, with the couusel of the physicians, by the hands of Mrs. R. 

Your visit, always cheering, was at this time peculiarly an angel's visit. 
May you long be spared in health to work in your noble mission for the soldier. 
Respectfully, 

R. H. ROBINSON, 32d Reg't. N. Y. Vols. 



Camp Keyes. Upton Hill, Va., Oct. 15, 1861. ) 
(22d Reg't. N. Y. S. V.) j 

Vincent Colter, Esq. :— I hereby, in behalf of the Colonel, Walter Phelps, jr , 
and Twenty-second Regiment, N. Y. S. V.. which he commands, veiy thankfully 
acknowledge the receipt of many valuable volumes of Sunday School publica- 
tions from the Protestant Episcopal society for the Promotion of Religion and 
Learning in the State of New York, through your hands. 

And allow mv to say that we have an abundance of evidence of the accom- 
plished good of the liberal Christian efforts of these associations in our regiment. 



I have only lime to say, " Let no one be discouraged because we report no per- 
fect finish as yet." Let us remember that on this hard soil, as elsewhere, we 
must look for " First the blade, then the ear, then the lull corn in the ear." 
Believe me personally grateful for your favors, and very truly, yours, 

HENRY. II. DATES. 

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Camp Kixg, Near Alexandria, Va„ Oct. 25, 1861. 

Dear Brother Colter : — I take this early opportunity of expressing my grat- 
itude to you. and through you to the donor, for the books you left with me at 
our camp. If you had been present and seen for yourself the joy of the soldiers. 
at this increase of their library, you would, I doubt not, feel amply rewarded 
for this act of kindness. They are just what was wanted. The men love to read 
and it is my desire to cultivate this fondness for books. Intelligent men aie 
what we want, and if you should chance to find another lot of miscellaneous 
books that can be obtained as were the others, send them to me and I will see 
that they are put into circulation in our regiment. We are anxious to increase 
our library as fast as possible, and to do Ibis we must rely mainly on the benevo- 
lence of the friends of the soldier. 

I am, dear sir, your friend, and Brother in Christ. 

A. A. FARE, Chaplain 18th Reg't.. N. Y. S. V. 



411 11th Street, Washington, D. C, Dec 21,1801. 
Vixcext Colyer, Esq., Dear Shi :— I am under obligations to you again for a 
donation of books. These you have now sent added to those which 1 received 
from you before ; make a very beautiful addition to the soldier's library which I 
have had the pleasure of collecting for the use of the Regulars in their new hos 
pital, at the " Circle.'" In our name, and in that of the soldiers, I thank the 
dear good friends who sent the books to you for distribution. 
Very truly, yours, 

Mrss C. M. MELVILLE. 

:0: 



Mr. Vixcext Colyer, My Dear Brother : — In behalf of my regiment. (Seventh 
N. Y. Cavalry.) I return you our sincere and heartfelt thanks for your generous 
supply of books and magazines. They meet a want we have long felt, and if 
those who so kindly gave them in your charge for distribution could only know 
how much we appreciate their kindness, I am sure they would feel amply repaid 
for any effort or sacrifice they have been called upon to make. 
I am, affectionately, yours, etc., 

J. B. DAVIS, Chaplain 7th N. V. Cavalry. 



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Faihfax Street Hospital, Alexandria. Feb. 1. 1SG1. 

Mb. Vincent Colyer, Mt Dear Sir: — I am happy to inform you that your 
very acceptable donation has been received. It conies to hand very opportunely, 
as the patients in this house were very much indeed in want of most of the arti- 
cles. Your present will add very much to the comfort of the sick soldiers under 
my charge. 

All the patients in hospital desire me to address you, and beg that you 
will please convey their warmest thanks to the kind donors for their benevo- 
lent and kind attention to their wants. I can assure you their gratitude is sin- 



cere, and you can inform the kind ladies that their benevolence will ever be re- 
membered. 

I know a great many persons think that Government and the Sanitary Com- 
mission furnish everything necessary for the comfort uf the sick soldiers. It may 
be so generally, but such has not been the case as far as this hospital is con- 
cerned. I have had charge here four months, the first three under Dr. ■ , 

as my superior officer, who would not permit me to send for anything, however 
much my patients needed it. For the last month Dr. Porter has been Medical 
Director, a very honest and upright man. Having new hospitals to furnish be 
has been unable to spare anything for this. We have, therefore, been in the 
want of a great many articles, until supplied by your handsome donation. You 
will please also thank the fair donors in my name, for I delight in seeing my pa- 
tients made comfortable and happy. 

I am your most obedient servant, 

JAMES ROBERTSON, Ass't. Surg., U. S. A. 



Headquarters 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 
Camp Lisby, Va., Jan. 17, 1862. 
My Dear Mr. Colyer : — I am very much indebted to you for the supply of 
hospital stores which you have given me. I doubt not the surgeon of my regi- 
ment will appreciate them very much, for they are among the things we need 
very much. While the Government is doing all it can to make the army comfort- 
able, yet these little tokens of kindness from those friends who feel for us. we 
appreciate more than w r ords can express. Thanking the ladies, whose tokens of 
regard we receive through your hands, I remain, my dear sir, 
Yours, very truly, 

J. DILLON EGAN, Chap. 8th Pa. Cavalry. 

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Camp Thomas, Feb. 10th, 1862. 
Mr. Vincent Colyer, Dear Sir :— The Hymn Books, Prayer Books, Tracts, &c, 
which you so kindly furnished me with, are thankfully received by the men, and I 
am hoping to see the fruit of all our labors in the improved morale, of those 
committed to our care. The German papers and books are peculiarly accepta- 
ble. I have not had a supply of German reading for some time, till I got from 
you the assortment recently put up for me. 

Accept my thanks lor all that you have done for me in this respect. May the 
Lord bless you, and those who furnish the spiritual ammunition, and may the 
Holy Ghost accompany the word to the awakening of souls. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

J. R. CARPENTER, Chaplain 1st Reg't. D. C. Vols. 



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Camp of Instruction, Washington. D. C , Feb. 12th, 1862. 
Vincent Colyek, Esq., My Dear Sir : — I have pleasure in acknowledging the 
receipt of a quantity of quilts, drawers, slips with several bottles of wine and 
some jellies for the sick among our Regiment. Also a laige quantity of Papers, 
Prayer books, singing or Hymn books, Tracts and Periodicals. 

They have been distributed among our men and were received most gratefully. 
In their behalf through you, I wish to send a thousand thanks to the kind 
donors through whose benevolence they were furnished. Please assure them 
they could not bestow their charitie' in a way that would be more purely be- 
nevolent, or through hands that would more faithfully distribute them than their 
agent in Washington. 
Again thanking you and them, 

I remain yours, very trnly, 

L. BARBER. Chaplain 2d Reg't. U. S. Sharpshooters. 



10 



The Christian Commission having commenced its "work in 
the army of the Potomac, and that army from its readiness of 
access to our citizens, now being well supplied, I returned to 
the city of New York. After the battle of Roanoke Island, 
at the request and with the advice and support of the Rev'd 
Dr. Tyng and the congregation of St. George's Church, I 
immediately started for that new field of labor, taking with 
mo a liberal amount of supplies. I arrived at Hatteras Inlet 
on the 20th February, and Roanoke Island a day or two after. 

The following letter was received soon after. 

Fort Hatteras, March 2d, 18(12. 
My Dear Sir : — The enclosed list enumerates the articles received by me, 
about 20th ultimo, through you, from the Brooklyn Young Men's Christian 
Association. 

The articles were placed in the hospital (Ft. Clark), where they were much 
needed by the sick of the Burnside expedition. 

You will have the goodness to thank the officers of the Association and 
oblige 

Yours, very sincerely. 
THOS. HEWSON BACHE, Brigade Surgeon Yols. Hatteras Inlet. 
To Mr. Y. Colyer, 105 Bleecker St., N. Y. 

Mr. Charles Woolsey accompanied me to Roanoke Island, 
and for two weeks was most active in relieving the suiTering. 
We were received with great kindness by Gen. Burnside— a 
tent was given to us for shelter — a stove, floor and sleeping 
bunk provided, and rations ordered to be furnished us during 
our stay in the department. I remained at Roanoke Island 
until the 11th of March, when I left with the main body of the 
army for Newborn. 

Camp Burnside, Roanoke Island, Feby. 28th, 18G2. 

To the Ladies of St. George's Church, N. Y. . — 
Please accept through me, the grateful thanks of the wounded and sick soldiers 
in the General Hospital, Camp Burnside, for the very opportune donation of 
clothing of various kinds, for stimulants of various kinds, books and other read- 
ing matter received this day by the hands of Vincent Colyer, Esq. 

This is the first aid we have received from the North since the battle of the 8th 
inst., and I am personally deeply grateful particularly in consequence of the 
urgent needs of our brave men who were unfortunate in battle : yet I would 
not have you to infer that we are at all despondent. We are all cheerful and 
hopeful for the future. 

Very respectfully, 

Calvin Cutter, Act. Brig. Surgeon. 

(This is from the surgeon of the second largest Hospital on 
the island.— Y. C.) 



Roanoke Island, March 1st, 18C2. 

Dear Sir : — I have much pleasure in acknowledging the receipt by your hands 
of a valuable addition to our hospital supplies, being a contribution from the 
Ladies of St. George's Church. New Yoik, to whom in behalf of ttie wounded 
and sick soldiers I oiler my sincere thanks. 

George Depby, Surgeon 23d Mass. 
Vincent Colybr, Esq.. Head Quarters Roanoke Island. 



Roanoke Island, March 1st, 18G2. 

Mr. Vincent Colter— Dear Shi :— I have been distributing Hymn books and 
papers among our troops, and they take them, and devour them, as most of the 
reading matter with which I have been furnished by the benevolent associations 
of the North was quite exhausted. 

The poor fellows in the Hospital were doubly thankful for the papers and 
precious little prayer books I handed to them this P. M. 

God bless you and your heaven-born association. 

I am, very truly and fraternally yours. 

J. B. Clark, Chaplain 23d Mass. Vols. 

Roanoke Island, Feb. 28th, 1862. 

My Dear SrR : — I hasten to acknowledge the receipt, from the Ladies of St. 
George's Church, New York, of a large supply of medical stores, books and 
tracts, for tin: use of our Hospital at this post. They were particularly accepta- 
ble to us, at this present time, as some of our own supplies were nearly exhausted 
and were the first we have received from any association at home. 
Thanking you very kindly. I am yours sincerely, 

Samuel A. Green, Surgeon 1st Brigade Hospital. 
Vincent Colyer Esq. 

Tho above is from the largest Hospital on the island and 
contains about seventy wounded men, from the battle-field of 
the 8th inst.— V. C ) 



I was with the surgeons during the battle of Newborn, and as- 
sisted in nursing the wounded. The night and day after the 
battle, after supplying the surgeons and chaplains with the 
stores they needed, I took a careful list of the killed and 
wounded, and furnished it to the reporters for the press in 
time to forward it by the dispatch boat leaving that day. 
My mission derived great advantage from this in the addi- 
tional publicity that the reporters of the Times, Elias Smith, 
and of the Tribune, Mr. Olcott, gave to it, and the Command- 



ing General to afford me increased facilities, issued the follow- 
ing request : 

Head Quarters of North Carolina, 
Newbern, March 1G, 1862. 

Col. Tompkins, New York :— By the direction of Brigadier-General Burnside, I 
beg to request that any parcels intended for use of hospitals, directed to Mr. Yin- 
cent Colyer, should be forwarded to this point. 

I am, Colonel, very respectful^, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS RICHMOND, Ass't. Adj't. General. 

I labored hard in company with the surgeons Drs. Upham 
and Kneeland, two days after the battle in fitting up the 
hospitals at Newbern, and received the following letters 
from them : 



Newbern, Nortii Carolina, 
Vincent Colyer, Esq., April 18th, 1862. 

My Dear Sir — The last instalment of farina, wines and jellies, for the use of 
the wounded and sick at Craven street Hospital, came in a most propitious mo- 
ment, and were most gratefully received. I assure you. 

No words of mine can express the good done by the Charitable Associations of 
which you are so kind and judicious an almoner. I do not know what we could 
have done in the recent emergency, without I he supplies of clothing, bandages, 
and nice articles of food dispensed by you ; but this I do know, that they have 
spared the suffering many a pain, and smoothed the path to the dark valley for 
many a dying soldier. *********** 

Many a time have I found their eyes, and as often my own, glistening with the 
unmanly tear, as I gave them the unexpected wine or jelly, or a change of clothes ; 
the very idea that there were thousands of kind hearts beating with sympathy 
and substantial aid for them, was of great value both to mind and body as a re- 
storativ". I count it as a precious privilege to have witnessed these emotions in 
the br< asts of our brave soldiers. 

I need not tell you what scenes of distress and death are of necessity seen in a 
large hospital after a battle like that of Newbern. You know them well. I only 
wish to thank you, and through you the different charitable associations, most 
sincerely for myself, and for more than a thousand sufferers, whose pangs you and 
they have so generously relieved. 

Truly yours, S. KNEELAND, Jr., M. D. 

In charge of Craven street Hospital. 



:o: 



Newbern, Wednesday, April 23, 18G2. 

your prompt response to my requisitio 
The one recommended will, I doubt no., 
prove an excellent fellow ; and allow me. my dear sir, to seize this opportunity 
to express my profound appreciation of the great value of your services to the 



My Dear Sir — Accept my (hanks for your prompt response to my requisition 
for a man of all work in the hospital. The one recommended will! I doubt not. 



sick and wounded men of this Division, under circumstances in which they could 
not have been reacbed by any other branch of the service. 

Your labors and good offices on the day of, and during the trying nights that 
followed the battle of Newbern, as I can personally testify, were of inestimable 
value. May God reward you and the association you represent. 

Yours, very truly, 

G. BUXTON UPIIAM, M.D., Act'g. Surg., Burnside's Division. 



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IIeadquarters 27th Mass. Reg't., [ 
Newbern, April 4th, 1862. \ 

My Dear Sir — I beg to acknowledge the reception of a very welcome supply 
of hospital stores from your hands, which has greatly contributed to the comfort 
of the sick and wounded of our regiment. Their number, in consequence of 
protracted confinement on shipboard, and of rude experiences in the recent bat- 
tle, is unusually large. I append a memorandum of the articles brought here by 
ward master Buxton. I bee; to thank you very heartily in behalf of my poor 
patients. I am, sir, with sentiments of high respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

GEORGE A. OTIS, Surg. 27th Mass. Vols. 



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Camp Franklin, Newbern, N. C, May 12th, 1S62. 

Dr. Colter, Dear Sir — Allow me to thank you for the gifts of hymn books 
and other reading matter which I have received from you for my regiment, and 
especially for the patience and kindness with which you have attended to my 
wants, both here and at Roanoke, in the midst of your many and perplexing 
cares. 

The men of the Fifty-first receive with great eagerness all such reading matter 
as I have received from you, and the hymn books are a great help to us in our 
religious services, as well as an encouragement to the men to meet together in 
their tents to sing, instead of employing themselves in other and more harmful 
entertainments. 

I am, very respectfully, your friend, 

DANIEL J. MALLORY, Chap. 51st Pa. Vols. 



At Roanoke Island I had found several poor white families 
in a starving condition. Our soldiers had fed them for some 
days, sharing their rations with them. I reported their situa- 
tion to Genl. Burnside, and he gave me an order on the U. S. 
Commissary for food for them. 

At Newbern there were a much larger number in a similar 
situation, and the General placed the whole matter of their 
care under my charge, — issuing the following orders : 



HeadQuakters, Department of North Carolina. 

Newbera, .March 30, 18G2. 

Dr. Vincent Colyer is hereby appointed Superintendent of the Poor, and will 
be obeyed and respected accordingly. 

By command of Major General BURNSIDE : 

LEWIS RICHMOND, Ass't. Adj't. General. 



Special Orders No. 54. Head Quarters, Department of North Carolina. 

Ncwbern, March 18, Ls62. 

Capt. Ritchie, Depot Commissary, will deliver to Mr. Colyer whatever provision 
he may want for the poor. By command Major General BURNSIDE : 

LEWIS RICHMOND. A. A. G. 

Some four hundred families averaging four to a family, in all 
eighteen hundred, chiefly women and children, were provided 
with food, upwards of three thousand visits were received 
from them, the rations being given to them in a two weeks 
supply for each family. Some of these families had a few 
months before been in affluence, many children and ladies of 
refinement came for food. 

I give a copy of a note received from a lady. 

Sir : — Necessity compels me to come and ask you for provisions, although it is 
very galling. My sister's and my income is all stopped, we are both so afflicted 
as not to be able to support ourselves. 

We have been raised in affluence, but we are poor now. My sister's husband 
was a Major General, and was ordered to the Mexican war, but a few days be- 
fore he left for the seat of war, he had an attack of heart disease and died. 

We have been bowed down with grief, and now this heavy affliction has come 
upon us. It has almost killed my sister. 

Our rents are all stopped and our servants have left us. We must have 
something to live on. Genl. Foster told me to come to you and get what I 
wanted. 

Respectfully yours, 

MISS MARY . 



As an endorsement of my humble endeavors to relieve the 
sufferings of the citizens, I submit the following letter from 
Major General Foster. It was written by him voluntarily, and 
attached to an unsuccessful application for relief addressed to 
some liberal people at the North. 

Office of Military Governor, 
Newbern. N. C. April 17th, 1862 
It gives me pleasure to endorse the within letter of Mr. Colyer with reference 
to the necessities of the poor of this city. 

Mr. Colyer is unremitting in his efforts to relieve their necessities, and I trust 
his appeal may be responded to. 

J. G. FOSTER, Brig. Gen. TJ. S. A. 



15 



The colored people with their families, were ordered to report 
at my office immediately on their arrival within the department. 
Upwards of 1,500 able-bodied men were registered on my books 
and detailed for service, to the different departments. A care- 
ful account of the date of their service was kept, and $8 the 
month and one ration with clothes was promised them. These 
men averaged 5 to a family, making 7,500 to be looked after. 
The men were of great service in building fortifications, and 
bridges, unloading ships, officers' service, &c, and we never 
could get as many as were needed. All anxiety as to " what 
should be done with them," we were never troubled with. 
They were peaceable, cheerful, and very industrious. The 
women and children took care of themselves in cooking and 
washing, making pies, cakes, &c, for the soldiers. 

The Negroes were very desirous to be employed, and were 
of great value to us as spies. They penetrated every important 
place, and brought us reliable information of the movements 
of the enemy. Several of them were taken prisoners, and one 
was shot ; but they seemed to think their lives were well spent 
in giving rest, security and success to the Union troops, whom 
they always regarded as their deliverers. They usually knelt 
in solemn prayer before they left and on their return from these 
hazardous errands. 

By the following order, the care of this branch of the service 
was placed entirely in my hands : 

Head Quarters Division, Dei\ N. C. 
April 24th, 1SG2. 
The Colonels commanding the Brigades of the Division, will instruct the Com- 
mander of their out posts, to respect the passes given to Negroes by Mr. Vincent 
Colyer to pass out of our lines, and the commanders of the out-posts will be 
further instructed, that any man coming to our lines, and asking for Mr. Colyer 
must be immediately sent to him, without molestation or examination of any 
kind whatever, and the guard sent in, must be particularly instructed to hold 
no conversation whatever with the person. 

By order Brig. Gcnl. FOSTER. 

SOUTHARD HOFFMAN, 

Ass't Adjt. Gen'l. 



1G 



With Gen'l. Burnside's consent I established an hospital for 
the poor blacks, and Dr. Clark of Mass. was placed as physician 
in charge. Rations were drawn from my office and through 
the kindness of some friends a supply of necessary articles for 
the sick were obtained. 150 patients were received, 131 dis- 
charged, 19 died. Dr. Clark made over 900 visits to the poor 
of Newborn, and vaccinated over 1,000 blacks. 

The county poor-house and the rebel prisoner's hospital 
both drew their supplies from my office. There were about 
80 people in the two places. The latter I cared for with as 
much attention as we bestowed on our own soldiers. 

Altogether over 8,000 people were cared for and kept from 
want, and their sufferings alleviated. 

The amount of provisions distributed will be found under 
their respective headings on the last page. Over f 0,000, was 
thus bestowed and with a few exceptions the liberality of the 
United States Government was gratefully received. 

Finding there were no schools for the poor white children, I 
caused one to be opened, supplying it with the necessary 
books, slates, &c, and providing it with teachers. Over 60 
children were thus cared for. 

The colored people were exceedingly desirous to learn to 
read, and with the consent of the Military Governor of New- 
born, Gen'l. Foster, two evening schools were opened under 
my superintendence. Over 800 pupils old and young, attended 
nightly and made rapid progress. 

These latter schools had been under way about six weeks 
when Gov. Stanly arrived. On his making known to me his 
opposition to their continued existence, I stopped them. This 
closing of the colored schools attracted great attention through- 
out the country, and on coming North soon after, on a brief 
leave of absence, I found that the Rev. Dr. Tyng, Mr. Cald- 



n 



well of Pa., and other active Christians had called the attention 
of the Government to it. Visiting Washington, in company 
with the Hon. Charles Sumner, I called upon the Presi- 
dent and told him of the valuable services of the blacks — of 
their capacity and usefulness as spies, &c. — and inquired 
concerning the return of fugitive slaves and the continuing of 
the schools, the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, being present. 
The President strongly expressed his determination to protect 
all loyal men, white or black, who served the Government, and 
declared that no one, under Federal authority, had or could 
have, under the Constitution, power to interfere with schools. 

On my return to Newbern, Gov. Stanly assuredjne that I 
had quite misunderstood him, and desired me to state this for 
him, to the public, which I did most gladly. 

Thus, with the blessing of God, by this powerful manifesta- 
tion of popular opinion at the North, were these schools re- 
established, freedom secured to the slaves, and the unquestion- 
ed right of the Government to avail itself of the services of 
the negro, as soldier or servant, permanently secured in the 
department of North Carolina, under Federal authority. 

Advised of the recall of Maj. Gen'l. Burnside, to reinforce 
Gen. McClellan before Eichmond, in anticipation of a battle I 
came North with the army, but finding no immediate action 
imminent and the army now well cared for by the Govern- 
ment, the Sanitary and the Christian Commission, I returned 
home. 

I append a letter from an escaped slave, received since my 
return. The writer is a leading man among his people. 

Newbern, August 27, 1802. 

Dr. Vincent Colter, Dear Sir — With pleasure I write these few lines to in- 
form you that I and family are well, and to hope that youaudyoiu family are 
enjoying the blessings of good health. 

Doctor, I should have liked to have had a conversation with you before you 
left Newbern for good ; but as I did not, I yet hope to see you again. There are 
great inquiries for you by the people of color in Newbern ; they are much at a 
loss for they have no one now to apply to for comfort or satisfaction ; no one 
that sympathizes with them as you did, Sir, I must say if the President of the 



18 



Dnitid States was (load, the Union Army could not mourn ins loss more than the 
people of Newborn do the loss of you. 

The Elders of St. Andrews Chapel, J. C. Reu. Louis Williams, William Ityol, 
R. M. Tucker, give their best respects to yon and your family. 

I would like to say more, but I must close by .saying — if I should never meet 
you again in this life — I hope to meet you 

" In that world of spirits bright, 
Who take their pleasure there ; 
Where all are clothed in spotless white, 
And conquering palms they bear.'' 

t should be happy to receive a few lines from you. 

Your most obedent servant, 

AMOS YORKE. 

One year and four months were occupied with the mission 
— over $27,000 worth of hospital stores, food, books and money 
collected and distributed — the supervision of the disposal of 
large amounts of money and clothing, and important duties 
for the Government — entrusted to the care of your agent. 

In conclusion, I desire to return my most heartfelt thanks to 
the generous friends who held up my hands with their gifts 
— the Societies who honored me with their confidence — and 
the Government, commanding officers and soldiers who afford- 
ed me such liberal facilities, and so kindly encouraged my 
efforts. 

In humble gratitude to Almighty God, for permitting me 
thus to act as your agent — in alleviating so much suffering 
— soothing the dying hours of so many noble men — and of 
preaching the glad tidings of everlasting salvation through 
Jesus Christ, to His people, 

I am, ever gratefully your brother, 

VINCENT COLYER. 



ARTICLES RECEIVED. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
FOR THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 

Hon. Judge Kelly, of Phil., 1 doz. fine old Irish Whiskey ... $12 00 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A. Cash 100 00 

St. George's Church, N. Y., 1 box hospital stores 50 00 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A., 1,000 Hymn Books 20 00 

Am. Tract Society, N. Y., Tracts 25 00 

Young Men's C. A. of N. Y., 1,000 Hymn Books 20 00 

Win. Ballan'yne, Washington, D. C, Books from Am. Tract Soc, N. Y 30 00 

Am, Tract Soc, N. Y., German Tracts 15 00 

Boston Tract Society, Colored Pamphlets 8 00 

Almanacs, Tracts &c : 15 00 

Am. Tract Soc, N. Y., German and English Tracts 20 00 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A., 2,030 Soldiers' Hymn Books 40 00 

Boston Tract Soc, Tracts &c 25 00 

Evangelical Knowledge Soc, Books 80 00 

St. George's Church, 1 Basket 50 00 

Mr. Morgan of St. George's Ch., 1 Box. 12 00 

Mrs. J. Allaire, Blackberry Brandy 12 00 

Am. & Foreign Bible Society, Bibles & Testaments 25 00 

Boston Tract Society, Books 35 00 

Boston Tract Society, Tracts 20 00 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A., German Tracts 12 50 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A., 3,000 Soldiers - Hymn Books GO 03 

Phil. Ladies Aid Society, Hosp. Stores 50 00 

Boston Tract Society, Tracts 20 00 

Protestant Episcopal Society, for promotion of religion and learning in 

State of N. Y., 350 Vols., Choice Books 100 0!) 

W. Baker & Co., of Boston, 8 Boxes Cocoa Paste 45 00 

T. Benny Quincy, Cash 5 00 

T. Denny Quincy. Tracts and Cards 10 00 

c'JIG 50 



20 



Brought forward • $!UG 50 

Lady in Phila. Prayer Meeting 2 00 

Miss Melville and Miss Gay, 1 Box Hosp. Stores 50 00 

Boston Tract Society, Tracts 50 00 

F. W.Ballard, Books and Tracts 80^0 

Am. and Foreign Bible Society, Bibles and Testaments 100 00 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A., 2.000 Hymn Books 40 00 

Sabbath Committee, N. V. Pamphlets 30 00 

Cash, to Pay Postage 10 00 

Wm. Ballantyne, Tracts 10 00 

W. H. Riblet, N. Y., Jellies, &c 25 00 

Messrs. Kemp & Day, N. Y., Jellies, and Preserved Meats 20 00 

N. Y. Y. M. C. A., Hooks 10 00 

Evangelical Knowledge Society, Books 100 00 

Army Com. Epis. Soc. of Phila., Soldiers' Prayer Books 32 00 

American Tract Soc. and Sabbath Com., N. Y., 30,000 Copies of Sabbath 

Orders of Gen. Washington and Gen. McClellan 30 00 

St. George's Church, p. Rev. Dr. Tyng, Cash 175 00 

Ladies' Patriotic Association, of Brooklyn, Tracts 25 00 

Army Com. Ep. Ch. Soc, Phila., Books 40 00. 

Mrs. Dr. Tyng, Socks from an old lady 5 00 

Miss Morris, 2 Baskets of Currant Jelly 50 00 

Prot. Epis. Soc, for promotion of religion and learning. State of N. Y.JJooks 100 00 

Wm. II. Powers, Phila 100 OD 

Ladies' Pat. Asso., Mount Clair. N. J.. Hosp. Stores 50 00 

Army Com. Phila. Epis. Soc. 2.50.) Soldiers" Prayer Books 50 CO 

St. George's Ch., N. Y., 3 boxes Hosp. Stores 150 00 

Army Com., Episcopal Soc, of Perm., B n oks 20 00 

" 5000 Soldiers' Prayer Books 100 00 

Artists Patriotic Fund Soc. of N. Y., Cash 300 00 

Army & Navy Com., Brooklyn Y. M. C. A.. 

1 Chapel Tent for Rev. Dr. Scudder, 59th N. Y. Y 150 00 

" " - Rev. Mr. Dwight, 66th N. Y. V 150 00 

'• " Rev. II. B. Bartow, 12th N. Y. V 150 00 

" li Rev. Mr. Beecher, 1st L. I. V 220 00 

Brooklyn Y. M. C. A 

18 Boxes Hosp. Stores, 900 00 

2,900 Soldiers' Hymn Books GO 00 

Cash 30 00 

Peter Rice Esq., 12 Cases Wine <J0 Oil 

" " " 300 Douay Testaments 50 00 

Miss Gibson's School, N. Y., Hosp. Garments 75 no 

Church of Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, Hosp. Garments 200 00 

Brooklyn Hearthstone Society, Hosp. Stores . , 200 00 

Ladies of 1st D. R. Ch., Fishkill, Hosp. Stores 1 00 00 

Miss Mellville and Miss Gay, Washington, D. C, Hosp. Stores 500 00 

Am. Tract Society, N. Y.. Tracts &c 175 00 

S5,o90 50 



21 



Brought forward $5,G90 50 

St. George's Church, N. Y., Hosp. Stores 30 ( 00 

Army & Navy Com. Brooklyn Y. M. C. A., 12 barrels Hosp. Stores 600 00 

Miss Sarah Sands, N. Y., Hosp. Stores 50 00 

Miss Clark. N. Y., Books, Tracts &c 50 00 

Mrs. V. Colyer, N. Y., Cash 100 00 



ROANOKE ISLAND, N. C. 
NINTH ARMY CORPS UNDER GENERAL BURNSIDE. 

St. George's Church, N. Y., per Rev. Dr. Tyng, Cash 255 00 

Physician, per Mrs. Dr. Tyng 15 00 

St. George's Ch., N. Y., 8 boxes Hospital Stores 400 00 

Brooklyn Y. M. C. A., 14 Boxes Hosp. Stores 700 00 

Miss Gibson's School, N. Y. Hosp. Garments 75 0J 

Miss Woolsey, N. Y., Trunk of Hosp. Stores 100 00 

Mr. Chas. Woolsey, N. Y., Cash 15 00 

Miss Woolsey, N. Y., India Rubber Bed 25 00 

A. Walker & Co.. San. Com., N. Haven, Hosp. Stores 100 00 

Ladies of Epis. Ch., Perth Amboy, Hosp. Stores 100 00 

Miss Merriam, N. Y., Hosp. Stores 10 00 

U. S. Government, per Gen. Burnside, 

1 Sibley Tent to protect Stores 50 01) 

U. S. Govt., per Gen. Burnside, for the use of the suffering poor whites on 
Roanoke Is 

1 Barrel flour, 2 Boxes Soap, | Barrel Salt Pork. \ Box Candles, h Barrel 

Salt Beef, A Barrel Sugar, .V Barrel Rice, J- Barrel Hominy. 



NEWBERN, N. C. 
NINTH ARMY CORPS UNDER GENERAL BURNSIDE. 

St. George's Ch. N. Y.. Twenty Boxes Hosp. Stores 1.000 00 

Brooklyn Y. M. C. A.. 34 Boxes and Bbls 1.790 00 

Seventh Regt., National Guard, N. Y., 14 Boyes & Barrels choice Jellies &C.700 00 

Ladies of Bridgeport, N. Y., 2 Boxes Hosp. Stores 100 00 

Ladies of St. Thomas Epis. Ch., N. Y., 10 Boxes 500 00 

Lisponard Stewart, Esq.. X. Y., Hosp. Stores 100 00 

American Tract Society, N. Y., 2 Boxes Books 100 00 

$12,925 50 



22 



Brought forward $12,925 50 

Ladies of Ref. Dutch Ch., Easton, Perm., 2 Boxes 100 00 

Ladies of Hatfield, Mass., 1 Box 50 00 

Army Com. Prot. Epis. Pub. Soc, of Phil., Books 150 00 

Ladies of Norfolk, Conn.. 1 Box 50 00 

Ladies of Stamford, Conn., 2 Bbls 100 00 

Am. Sunday School Union, Books for Beginners 1C0 00 

New York Y. M. C. A., 16 Boxes Hosp. Stores 800 00 

Artists Patriotic Fund Soc, N. Y., Wine 100 00 

" Cash 300 00 

Lathrop, Ludington & Co., N. Y., Books, Primers 50 00 

D. R. Larned Esq., from friends in N. Y., Books 100 0° 

Castor Oil 50 00 

Gum Camphor 10 00 

1 Bbl. Epsom Salts 30 ) 

Mrs. G. T. M. Davis, N. Y., Military Chest 30 <>0 

Brooklyn Y. M. C. A., Cash 150 00 

Mrs. Vincent Colyer. Cash 100 00 

Maj. Gen. Burnside, Casb 40 00 

U. S. Christian Com., per Hon. B. F. Manniere, Cash 7.5 03 

il " Hymn Books. 10 00 

Friend, per F. W. Ballard Esq.. Cash 20 00 

St. George's Ch., per Rev. Dr. Tyng 75 00 

Miss Margaret Merritt, N. Y 35 00 

R. W. Hubbard, N. Y., 3 boxes books 50 00 

" " " \ chest Tea 30 00 

" " " 2 doz choice sherry wine 24 00 

F. E. Church, N. Y., Cash 5 00 



$15,559 50 



From the U. S. Government, per Gen. Burnside, for the use of the suffering poor 
of Newbern, N. C, and distributed as follows : 



TO WHITE PEOPLE. 



Flour 7f>.} barrels. 

Beef. 116 

Hominy 4\ '- 

Coffee 20$ " 

Sugar 24| '• 

Pork 2<4 " 

Bacon 38 " 

Rice 37 " 

Candles 379 lbs. 

Tea 05 



Meal 132 lbs. 

Fresh Beef 109 " 

Peas 549 " 

Salt 219 •' 

Hard Bread 107 bxs. 

Molasses 43 gal. 

Vinegar " 

Soap 39 lbs. 

Beans 11 bbls 



23 



TO COLORED rEOPLE. 



Flour 10 barrels 

Sugar , 7 '• 

Coffee... 5 " 

Rice 8 " 

Beef 4 -J " 

Pork 16$ " 

Candles 27 \ lbs. 

Tea 4" " 

Meal 433 •' 



Horainy 237 lbs. 

Beans 369 " 

Peas 308 " 

Hard Bread 3262 " 

Soap 805 '•' 

Salt 44 " 

Fresh Beef 1 !) " 

Molasses 31 gal. 

Vinegar 15 q's. 



TO GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES 



Flour 

Sugar 3.1 

Coffee l| 

Rice 4 

Beef 8i 

Fork 11 

Bacon '.',] 

Onions 1 

Hard bread 3132 

Fresh Beef J 99 

Tea m 

Ham .... 30 



1 3 barrels ! Beans 147 lbs. 



lbs 



Peas 74 " 

Salt. . .' 57 •' 

Soap Ill " 

Hominy 48 " 

Candles 13 " 

Meal 74 " 

Potatoes 1 barrel 

Molasses 5 gal. 

Vinegar 10 qts. 

Rations of Sour Bread 2000 

Shoes 2,000 pair. 



TO SOUTHERN PRISONERS, IX HOSPITAL FROM MARCH 1ST., TO MAY 1ST. 



Flour 150 lbs, 

Rice. 90 " 

Coffee 52 " 

Sugar 82 " 

Candles 23 " 

Tea 2 '• 

Potatoes 170 " 

Fresh Beef. 182 " 

Salt Beef 225 " 

Pork 35 " 

Bacon 35 " 



Hard Bread 170 lbs. 

Hominy 32 " 

Meal 50 " 

Beans 28 " 

Onions 148 " 

Bar Soap 24 " 

Molasses 8 qts_ 

Salt 6 " ' 

Vinegar 7 " 

Wood 1 load 



TO COUNTY POOR I10U.SE, FROM MARCH 1ST, TO JULY 1ST. 



Flour S^bbls. 

Sugar 40 lbs. 

Candles 10 " 

Coffee 45 " 

Pork 20 lbs. 

Beef 20 " 



Hard Bread 400 lbs' 

Bacon 281 " 

Hominy 80 " 

Fresh Beef 10 < ; 

Rice 30 " 

Molasses 20 gal. 



24 



TO POOB-HO08B HOSPITAL, FK 

Flour 153 lbs. 

Rico 187 " 

Coffee 29 " 

Sugar Gl •• 

Candles 34 '■ 

Tea 3 « 

Fresh Beef 300 " 

Salt 56 •' 

Pork 103 " 

Bacon 210 " 



)M MARCH 1ST., TO JULY 1ST. 

Meal ..." 113 lbs. 

Soap 26 - 

Onions 20 '• 

Beans 18 •' 

Salt 2 lbs. 

Hani bread 80 " 

Molasses 24ots. 

Vinegar (i '• 

Wood 5 loads 

400 suits clothing to Gov. employees. 



Value of Food and Clothing- distributed .' . .$12,000 00 

Hospital Stores, Books, &c 15,555 50 

Total $21,559 50 




mmmjm 



THE FREEDMAN. 

Fkom thb Statuette by J. Q. A. Wabd. 



REPORT 



OK THE SERVICES RENDERED BY THE 



FREED PEOPLE 



TO THE 



itttto States %xw%, in llortlj Carolina, 



IN THE SPRING OF 1862, AFTER THE BATTLE OF NEWBERN, 



By VINCENT COLYEB, 



Sui'ERlNTENDENT OF THE POOR UNDER GENERAL BURNSIDE. 



•• So that they cause the cry of the poor to conie unto Him. and He heareth 
the cry of the afflicted. 

When He giveth quietness who then can make trouble? and when He 
hideth His face, who then can behold Him ? whether it be done against a nation 
or a man only." — Job xxxiv : 28, 29. 



pD J0tfc: 

Published by VINCENT COLYER, No. 105 Bleecker Street. 



18 64. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 

Vincent Colyeb, 

In the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court, for the Southern District 

of ths State of New York. 




G. A. WHITEHORNE, PRINTER, 
119 FULTON 4 42 ANN 8TS. 



®h* $ mices ai the $mfl-f*apl* 

TO THE 

UNION ARMY IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



I commenced my work with the freed people of color, in 
North Carolina, at Roanoke Island, soon after the battle of the 
8th of February, 1862, which resulted so gloriously for our 
country. 

A party of fifteen or twenty of these loyal blacks, men, women 
and children, arrived on a " Dingy " in front of the General's 
Head Quarters, where my tent was located. They came from 
up the Chowan River, wnd as they were passing they had 
been shot at by their rebel masters from the banks of the 
river, but escaped uninjured. 

They were a happy party, rejoicing at their escape from 
slavery and danger, and at the hearty welcome which was at 
once extended to them, by the officers and men of the New 
England regiments, which chiefly made up the corps under Gen. 
Burnside's command. 

It rained hard that night, and shelter being rather scarce on 
that Island, I gave up my tent to the women and children, 
and found quarters for myself with a neighbor. 

The calm trustful faith with which these poor people came 
over from the enemy, to our shores ; the unbounded joy which 
they manifested when they found themselves within our lines, 
and Free ; made an impression on iny mind not easily effaced. 
Many of the officers, notwithstanding the rain, gathered around 
the tent to hear them sing the hymn, " The precious Lamb, 
Christ Jesus, was crucified for me." 

After the battle of Newborn, when my work in the hospitals 



was over, General Burnside placed all the freed people, and also 
the poor whites, under my charge, issuing the following order : 



Head Quarters, Department of North Carolina. 

Newbern, March 30, 1862. 
Mr. Vincent Colyer is hereby appointed Superintendent of the Poor, 
and will be obeyed and respected accordingly. 

By command of Major General BURNSIDE : 
Lewis Richmond, Ass't Adj't General. 



NEGROES NOT A BURTHEN. 

My first order from General Burnside under this appoint- 
ment, was to employ as many negro men as I could get, up to 
the number of five thousand ; to offer them eight dollars 
a month, one ration and clothes, to work on the building 
ot forts. This Order remained standing on my books up 
to the day I left the Department with the General, July 
6th, without our ever being able to fill it. At the time I 
left, there were not over twenty-five hundred able-bodied men 
within our lines : so that it will be readily understood why the 
negroes were never a burden on our hands. The truth was, 
we never could get enough of them : and although for a little 
while, there were a few more at Roanoke Island than were 
wanted there after the Fort was completed, they were brought 
to Newbern as soon as it was known. 



THEIR NUMBERS IN THE DEPARTMENT OP N. CAROLINA, 
WERE AS FOLLOWS ; 

At Newborn and vicinity, - - - . 7,500 
At Roanoke Island and parts adjacent, - - 1,000 
At Washington, Hatteras, Carolina and Beau- 
fort, 1,500 

In all 10,000, of whom 2,500 were men, 7,500 women and 
children. 



o 



t/2 




THE WORK THEY DID. 

In the four months that I had charge of them, the men built 
three first-class earth-work forts : Fort Totten, at Newbern — a 
large work ; Fort Burnside, on the upper end of Roanoke Is- 
land ; and Fort ■— , at Washington, N. C. These three 

forts were our chief reliance for defence against the rebels, in 
case of an attack ; and have since been successfully used for 
that purpose by our forces under Major-Generals Foster and 
Peck, in the two attempts which have been made by the 
rebels to retake Newbern. 

The negroes loaded and discharged cargoes, for about three 
hundred vessels, served regularly as crews on about twenty 
steamers, and acted as permanent gangs of laborers in all the 
Quartermasters', Commissary and Ordinance Offices of the 
Department. A number of the men were good carpenters, 
blacksmiths, coopers, <fec, and did effective work in their trades 
at bridge-building, ship-joining, &c. A number of the wooden 
cots in the hospital, and considerable of the blacksmith and 
wheelwright work was done by them. One shop in Hancock 
Street, kept by a freedman, of which the engraving on 
another page gives a fair picture, usually presented a busy 
scene of cheerful industry. The large railroad bridge across 
the Trent was built chiefly by them, as were also the 
bridges across Batchelor's and other Creeks, and the docks at 
Roanoke Island and elsewhere. Upwards of fifty volunteers 
of the best and most courageous, were kept constantly em- 
ployed on the perilous but important duty of spies, scouts, and 
guides. In this work they were invaluable and almost indis- 
pensable. They frequently went from thirty to three hundred 
miles within the enemy's lines ; visiting his principal camps 
and most important posts, and bringing us back important and 
reliable information. They visited within the rebel lines 
Kingston, Goldsboro, Trenton, Onslow, Swansboro, Tarboro 
and points on the Roanoke River : often on these errands 
barely escaping with their lives. They were pursued on 
several occasions by blood-hounds, two or three of them were 
taken prisoners ; one of these was known to have been shot, 
and the fate of the others was not ascertained. The pay they 
received for this work was small but satisfactory. They 



10 



seemed to think their lives were well spent, if necessary, in 
giving rest, security and success to the Union troops, whom 
they regarded as their deliverers. They usually knelt in solemn 
prayer before they left, and on their return from these hazard- 
ous errands, as they considered the work as a religious duty. 

THEIR SERVICES AS SPIES. 

One morning, in the beginning of this pioneer duty, the 
provost Guard in front of my door told me that two negro spies 
sent by the rebels into our lines, had been caught by our 
pickets. I had sent two men to Kingston, with instructions 
that they should report only to me ; on their return they 
were examined by the pickets and officers of the out- 
posts, who, ignorant of our doings in this way, and com- 
pletely mystified by the negroes, sent the two men under strong- 
guard to General Foster. The General himself, not having 
been told by General Burnside of the authority which had 
been given to me, of sending out men on these expeditions, 
was going by my door at the time the guard were passing with 
these men. For convenience he brought them into my office ; 
when, to my astonishment I found that the noted negro prison- 
ers, of whom I had heard early in the morning were my two 
men. So faithful were they to my order, that though subjected 
to suspicion and indignity all the morning, from their own 
friends, they had not betrayed their trust. 

By the following special Order, the care of this branch of the 
service, in the neighborhood of Newbern, was, after the above 
affair, placed exclusively in my hands, and I have graphi c 
details recorded of their journeys : 

Headquarters' Division, Dep. N. C, ) 
April 24th, 1862. j 

The Colonels commanding the Brigades of the Divisions, 
will instruct the Commander of their out-posts, to respect the 
passes given to negroes by Mr. Vincent Colyer, to pass out of 
our lines, and the Commanders of the out-posts will be further 
instructed, that any man coming to our lines, and asking for 
Mr. Colyer, must be immediately sent to him, without moles- 
tation or examination of any kind whatever ; and the guard 



H 
W 

m 

W 

W 

a 
I 

M 



bj 



-1 



W 

c 



5p 




13 



sent in must be particularly instructed to hold no conversation 
whatever with the person. 

By order of Brig.-General Foster, 

Southard Hoffman, 

Assist. Adj't Gen'l. 

The name of one of these two faithful men who thus opened 
the way for the carrying on of this important service — was 
Furney Bryant. At that time now two years ago, he did not 
know a letter of the alpha - 
abet, and he came within 
our lines dressed in the 
rags of the plantation. He 
attended my schools and 
after I left Newbern, on 
the formation of the 1st 
North Carolina Colored 
Reg't, he enlisted, and 
with his regiment was or 
dered for duty with Gene- 
ral Gilmore off Charleston; 
where his gallantry and in- 
telligence caused him to 
receive the appointment 
of 1st Sergeant, and a leave 
of absence of thirty days. 
On his way home to New- 
bern he came to New 
Yoik city and called on 
me. The contrast in his 
personal appearance, in kurxey bkyant, thk kekugee. 

his new suit of Army blue, was not more remakable than 
the following letter received from him since his return to 
duty, proves his growth in the knowledge of letters to be. 
Let no one say that freedom is not better than slavery, with 
such examples before them. 

In company with three other soldiers of his regiment, he 
arrived in Newbern in time to participate in the defence of 
that place against the recent desperate attack of the rebels 




14 



in February, 1864. The engraving represents him, in com- 
pany with Corporal Owen Jones heroically defending his 
native town, and the government which had set him free, 
against the secessionists. ( See page 17.) 



SERGEANT BRYANT'S LETTER. 

Jacksonville Florida, March 23, 1864. 
My Dear friend, Mr. Colyer, 

In a few lines, I will inform you that I am in good health. 
I am happy in having the pleasure of writing to you while studying 

over all the care and affec- 
tion which you have shown 
towards the colored people. I 
do say, and truly believe, that 
you will have your reward 
in Heaven. 

I hope that God will pros- 
per you in all your undertak- 
ings and that you may forever 
find pleasure in your duties, 
looking unto God. 

I trust to meet you and 
your kind brother-in-law, Mr. 
Geo. Hancock, in this world, 
but if I should not, then I 
hope to meet you in Heaven. 
It was my desire to have 
called upon you again before 
I left New York, but the 
steamer left so hurriedly we 
could not. Sergeant Lewis 
Bryant, Corporal Owen Jones, 
William White and John 
Bringing my letter to a close, in reading 
over all I have written I can only say, Amen 

Sergeant, Fdrney Bryant. 




SERGEANT FUKNEY BKYANT, 1ST NORTH CAROLINA 
COLORED TROOPS. 

Hatch send their love 



UNION SCOUTS. — CHARLEY. 



A negro boy, Charley, made three journeys to Kingston, at 
that time the head-quarters of the enemy. The distance was 



15 



forty-five miles, thirty within the enemy's lines. On the first 
visit, he brought us information that the enemy's camp and a 
large portion of his forces were removed some miles and across 
a river. Upon the closest questioning by the General, no dis- 
crepancy or contradiction could be found in his statements. 
On his third journey, in company with another boy, he was 
about five miles above Kingston, when he was suddenly over- 
taken by a rebel on horseback, with a pack of bloodhounds by 
his side, scouring the woods, and the dogs evidently on their 
trail. The negroes waited cautiously in a thick copse of wood, 
and as the man rode round the thicket, before the dogs came 
up, they fired their revolvers at him. They missed the man but 
shot his horse. In a minute the dogs came in, when they turned 
quickly and shot two of the dogs. The man hearing the 
repeated firing and the howling of his dogs, and unable to tell 
the character or numbers of his enemies, quickly ran off. The 
boys also ran in the opposite direction with equal, or perhaps, 
superior alertness, for they had farther to go to reach home, — 
some thirty-six miles to our nearest pickets. They continued 
to run and rest at intervals, until they were within twelve 
miles of our lines, when they heard the bark of more dogs, and 
the sound of men's voices urged them on. Knowing that the 
dogs were after them, and realizing their danger, they ran 
very fast, and taking to the water in the swamps, whenever 
possible, for several miles they baffled the scent of the clogs, 
and kept at a distance ahead of .them. At last, seeing that 
they were nearly upon them, and the men a long distance be- 
hind, they quickly got ready their revolvers, and awaited the 
attack of the dogs. Placing their backs against trees, they 
took cool and deliberate aim, and wounded three of them, and 
sent them howling back to their owners. The men in pursuit, 
hearing the firing and howling of the dogs, set up a shout and 
hurried forward,, until they came near the place where the 
fight had occurred, when they advanced, it is supposed, more 
cautiously, fearing an ambush. The negro boys came home as 
fast as they could run, throwing off coats, pants, caps, and 
everything but their shirts, drawers, and revolvers, finally 
reaching our lines in safety, completely exhausted. 



16 



CHARACTER OF MEN EMPLOYED AS SCOUTS. 

In order that you may have a correct idea of the character 
of the men from among whom these spies were selected, let 
me give you the brief personal history of one of them, as I 
wrote it down from his own lips, previous to employing him 
on one of these visits. You will then be able to judge more 
readily whether they would be likely to have the enterprise 
and necessary ability to undertake such dangerous duties. 

I will preface his story by saying that he was a tall, intelli- 
gent looking, well formed negro, of a singularly modest, 
refined and ingenuous look. His long incarceration in the 
woods, and non-communion with his fellows, had given him a 
meditative air and manner that was peculiar. He told his 
story without any apparent idea that it was in the least re- 
markable or uncommon, or with a thought of being a hero, yet 
with a full consciousness of the injustice and wrong to which 
he had in common with his race been subjected to while in 
slavery. 

His dignity, earnestness, and uncomplaining resignation of 
manner should be known to have the story rightly appre- 
ciated. 

HISTORY OP A SCOUT. — WM. KINNEGY. 

My name is William Kinnegy ; I belonged to * * who lived 
on * * * in Jones County, North Carolina, where I was 
born, in what year, I could never ascertain. After * * *'s 
death, his son * * * drew lots and obtained me and left 
me to his * * *'s son * * *. This * * * sent 
me to Richmond to be sold, about six years ago. I was taken 
to jail, and after remaining there about two months, I was 
brought out and placed in the slave pen. They made us 
(there was a number from different parts of the country, all 
strangers to me,) strip stark naked ; the women in one part of 
the room, the men in another ; a rough cotton screen separa- 
ting the two sexes. We were stood off at a short distance 
from our purchasers, and our physical condition fully consider- 
ed and remarked upon, holding up our hands, turning 
round, and then we were sold accordingly. They did not call 



19 



us " people," but " stock."' I had been used in North Caro- 
lina to the title, " droves of people," but there in Richmond, 
they called us "droves of stock," "heads of stock," &c. After 
knocking about between different purchasers, I was traded off 
to go South. * * * and * * *, traders, bought me, 
and afterwards sold me to a man named * * * to go 
South in Alabama. They took me out of Richmond jail, and 
in company with One hundred others, men, women and child- 
ren, they put me on the train on the Welden and Goldsborough 
Railroad. We were to go to Wilmington, and from there by 
water to Alabama. When the train had passed Goldsborough, 
and was below Strickland's depot, on the Goldsborough and 
Wilmington Railroad, it was night. Knowing that I was then 
as near to the residence of my wife and children, as I ever 
probably should be, I made an excuse to look out of the door, 
and watching my chance, while the train was in full motion, 
passing through a wood, I jumped off. I was three days and 
four nights in the woods before I got anything to eat. Bruised 
badly, and suffering from the strain of jumping off the train, 
being compelled to avoid every habitation, and in the Avoods 
and swamps I had a hard time of it. At the close of the fourth 
night, a colored man, a slave, gave me some food. After a 
while I reached my home and met my wife. It was still dark, 
and having had a word of good cheer from her, and kisses 
from my three children, I took a little food and returned to 
the woods, five miles away. 

I have a son twenty-three years old, whom you know as 
* * *, he works on the fort for the United States Govern- 
ment ; and a daughter twenty-three years old, who was sold to 
a planter, I believe in Alabama ; and four small children under 
the age of twelve years, two of whom have been born since I 
lived in the woods. These six children were all by the 
same wife * * *. I staid in the woods in a close jungle, 
so thick that you could not penetrate it, except with the axe ; 
and from that time to this, (it was February 12th, 1857, mid- 
winter, when I jumped off the train) now over five years, I 
have lived in that woods. I dared not permit myself to be seen 
by a white man for months, and then only by one or two of 
the very poorest, who traded with me in small things. I slept 



20 



under the boughs and on a bed of pine blooms for a month or 
two (mid-winter and plenty of rain) until spring, when I began 
to build me a hut. I cut down small trees, and from an old 
fence got some boards, and soon built a place large enough to 
sleep in. I had to get a saw, so as not to make a noise ; the 
sound of an axe would be heard a much greater distance. 
There were a great many cattle and swine in the glades among 
the reeds on which they feed in the fall. I have seen three 
and four hundred in a drove. They get so wild and skittish 
that the owners rarely keep any account of them. The poor 
people about, frequently kill them, and the owners seem not to 
be aware of it, or do not care for it. They are generally lean 
and thin cattle while left in this way. I killed one occasional- 
ly, and by trading a pig which I had killed and dressed, and 
leaving it in a place designated, a poor white man with whom 
I accidentally became acquainted ; by previous arrangement 
brought a gun and left it in the same place. I took the gun 
and he took the pig, of course without meeting each other. 
Afterwards I exchanged other things ; the hide of a cow, &c, 
for shot and powder. If I had received them from him in per- 
son, or he had been found out, his punishment would have 
been very severe ; but I saw him but rarely, as my acquaint- 
ance was too dangerous a thing for him. Once I was hunted 
out by bloodhounds. One Jim McDaniel kept a pack of these 
dogs, and they were put on my track.* There were eight 
dogs, and they were upon me before I had time to pre- 
pare. With an old scythe which I had made into a cutlass, I 
killed two and crippled another, but I was forced to fly to the 
middle of the swamp to get clear of them, wading up to my 
middle in water and mud. After some days I returned to my 
hut, and found that my pursuers had robbed me of everything, 
and nearly destroyed the hut. This would not be considered 
worth much to most people under ordinary circumstances, but 
it was a great loss to me, and besides, compelled me to change 
my hiding place. As I had been from youth up always in 
delicate health (was " sickly," as they called me,) and was sold 
to the traders by my owner * * * very low, and 

* This man and his dogs were captured by Col. Mix's cavalry a short time 
since, and he id now in Newbern jail. — V. Colter. 



21 



he had got his money, they did not make that careful search 
for me they would otherwise have done. My wife's owner 
offered $400 for me, but my master thought he could get more 
than that for me in Richmond, and so I was sent there. The 
Alabama planter, who bought me, paid $700 for me, I was told. 
I never dared to stay at my wife's cabin more than a few min- 
utes at a time, although it was always night when I visited her. 




WM. KIXXEGY RETCRXIXG TO THE CXIOX ARMY WITH HIS FAMILY, FROM WHOM HE 
HAD BEEX SEPARATED BY SLAVERY FOR FIVE YEARS. 

She has been as faithful a wife to me as woman could be, and 
though she has had two children since I have lived in the woods, 
their resemblance to the others is so striking, that their master 
troubled my wife very much to get her to betray my where- 
abouts. 



22 



As soon as possible after the United States army took New- 
bern, I came within the Union lines. I have worked a month 
for you on the fort, have eight dollars, wages received there, 
in my pocket, and now hearing that my wife's owner has run 
away, and she and the children are up in the country alone, I 
have come to you for a pass to go and bring them down." 

I listened to his simple story, and then asked him if he 
would be willing, while after his wife, to go a little further, up 
to Kingston and thereabout, and take a good look at the rebel 
encampments, make a careful note on his memory of their 
number and situation, inquire of the negroes in their cabins 
all about the enemy, and bring this information for us, with 
his wife and children on his return. I told him I would pay 
him handsomely if he brought us information of value. He 
said he would gladly, he knew every inch of the road. I gave 
him rations for three days, some small change in silver, and a 
pass. Two weeks after this the tall form of this negro stood 
belore me, he had returned with his wife and four children- 
He said, " Sir, this is the first time in five years I have dared 
to stand before a white man, and call my wife and children my 
own." 

He brought us very valuable information. 

REFUGEES FROM ALABAMA. 

Two negroes came from the Northern part of Alabama where 
they had been in the woods for over a year. They were three 
months in making their way through the woods and bye-paths, 
avoiding white men all the way, from Alabama to Newbern 
a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles. 

They arrived in June. 

ALSO FROM SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Two other negroes came from South Carolina, they were 
nearly six weeks on their way ; these two had escaped to the 
woods on the fall of Fort Sumpter, and like the two from Ala- 
bama, were well ncqainted with the cause of the war, that is, 
the cause as all the negroes understand it, viz : slavery. 



FEARS OP A PLANK MOVEMENT DISMISSED. 

Two free negroes from Onslow County had lived in the 
woods for more than a year, to escape being drafted to work 
on the enemy's fortifications. They were very intelligent and 
devoted to our cause. It was reported that the rebels were 
advancing in force from that direction, threatening our rail 
road communication with Beaufort. Gen. Foster wanted two 
scouts to search the neighborhood thoroughly, and report if 
they met any of the enemy's troops, their number, location, 
&c. I sent these two free blacks, and after four days absence 
they returned, having been over a circuit of forty-five miles 




21 



part of the time in a heavy storm, through woods and swamps, 
in negro cabins, &c, and relieved the minds of the Com- 
mander by their full and satisfactory report. Both these 
men were laid up with the measles for a week, and came near 
dying from their exposure. 

HINTS TO SCOUTS IN FUTURE SERVICE. 

One man from the neighborhood of Tarboro led a scouting 
party to that place and got the information we wanted, and 
returning was discovered by the rebels, and chased by dogs. 
He escaped by bathing the feet of his party in turpentine, which 
is said to effectually destroy the scent, and prevent tJie dogs from 
following the trail. 

AN ESCAPE WITHOUT DISCOURAGMENT. 

Two scouts, after trying in vain to pass the enemy's 
pickets above Newbern, attempted to steal up the Neuse river 
at early dawn. They were half way up to Kingston, when a 
boat containing a party of armed rebels, who evidently sus- 
pected their errand, darted out behind them from the other 
side of the river, cutting off their retreat and very nearly cap- 
turing them. The negroes pulled quickly for what they sup- 
posed to be the shore : but it proved to be an island and they 
were surrounded. It was with the greatest skill and bravery 
that they escaped. They returned thoroughly exhausted ; 
yet in a few days, they started again on a similar errand. 

AN EXPEDITION PLANNED BY A FREEDMAN. 

A man named Sam Williams, came one evening, and desired 
to speak to me concerning a plan, by which he said we might 
catch several hundred of the rebel soldiers. He took the map, 
and describing the location of the enemy, and the character of 
the country, pointed out a bye-road through the swamps, by 
which, he said, they could readily be approached and sur- 
rounded. He planned out all the details, and made it as clear 
as possible. In due time, General Foster ordered the plan to 
be carried out. There were three regiments in the expedition, 
Williams riding ahead, surrounded by twenty cavalry ; it un- 



25 



fortunately happened, however, that the commander decided 
to take another road. As the little party of twenty, ahead, 
were passing a church, about sixty rebels sprung out 
from the road side and fired upon them. Nearly all the twenty 
were thrown from their saddles. For a moment, all was con- 
fusion ; but our troops coming up, soon put the rebels to flight. 
Williams, in the excitement, escaped to the woods : and, after 
twenty-four hours hard experience, returned. The Colonel 
commanding said, in making his report, that " if he had fol- 
lowed Samuel William's advice, as he should have done, they 
would have been entirely successful." And the rebels said to 
two of our soldiers whom they took prisoners, and afterwards 
exchanged, that " if they could only have caught that negro, 
they would have roasted him alive." An officer said in the 
presence of one of the Generals that, " There was not a braver 
man in North Carolina, within our lines." The following is a 
copy of a paper given to this man, by the two chief officers 
of the 3d New York Cavalry Regiment, to whom he acted as 
guide. 

" HONORABLE MENTION." 

St. Nicholas Hotel, \ 

New York, 18th Sept., 1862. f 

This is to certify that the bearer, Samuel Williams, colored man, served 
the United States Government as guide to my Regiment on an expe- 
dition out of Newbern, N. C, in the direction of Trenton, on the morn- 
ing of the 15th of May, and performed effectual service for us, at the 
imminent risk and peril of his life, guiding my men faithfully and truth- 
fully, until his horse was shot under him, and he was compelled to take 
refuge in a swamp. 

He was of great service to the Union cause while in North Caro- 
lina. 

S. H. Mix, 
Col. 3d N. Y. Cavalry. 
Witness, 

YlNCENT COLYER. 

Superintendent of poor Dept. of N. C. 

I certify that I am personally acquainted with the man within 
named, that he was guide of the expedition to Trenton, N. C, and bore 
himself in a creditable manner. 

C. Fitz Simmons, 
Major 3d N. Y. Cavalry. 



26 



It was the repeated demand for passes by the men, to go for 
their wives within the enemys lines, that led me to think 
of this scouting service. One day two young men called for 
passes for this purpose. Their wives lived in the neighbor- 
hood of Kingston. I acceeded to their request, and on their 
promising to visit the enemys camps, and their expresssing 
a desire to have a weapon to defend themselves with, I gave them 
a revolver. They were absent some three weeks, or more, when 
several refugees, arriving from Kingston informed us that one 
of these young men had been shot, and taken prisoner. He had 
somewhat rashly exposed himself by visiting his wife in early 
twilight, and had been discovered by her master who was a 
noted rebel, who laid wait for him, and when the young man 
emerged from his wife's cabin, he shot him. They bound him 
hand and foot, and placing him on a hand cart drove him 
through the streets of Kingston to the town jail. Our informer 
stated that numbers of the town people crowded around the 
cart as it passed through the town on its way to the prison ; 
but they would not let a negro approach him. They over- 
heard their master say, however, that it was a negro whom 
the Yankees had armed and sent up as a spy. From 
that time forward the rebels were much more vigilant in posting 
guards through the woods ; and several of our scouts were 
compelled to return without effecting anything. 

ABILITY OF THE SCOUTS. OR INEFFICENCY OF OUR GUARDS. 

As an illustration, either of the extreme sagacity and abilily 
of some of these scouts, or the carelessness of our picket guards, 
I will mention that I have known these spies on their return from 
their journeys, to arrive at my head quarters at different hours 
of the day and night, without having encountered one of our 
guards on the way. 

A MISTRESS RELIEVED BY HER SLAVE. 

A family came into my house : the woman was dripping wet, 
hungry and tired, and we, of course, fed and clothed her. She 
had started down the Neuse River with her children, to " come 
to the Yankees." They rowed, after twilight, down the river, 




The Union Scout. 



29 



until a breeze came up, which rocked the canoe badly, and 
they rowed for the shalk ./ water, where, however, the waves 
were higher. She jumped out, and walking:, kept the boat 
steady all the way — twelve miles — to Newbern. Her mistress 
said to her the night she came away, " Juno, this place is hor- 
rid ; if you can make your way to the Yankees, do it. You 
see how poor w T e are, and how my children are compelled to 
suffer. Take this basket of eggs as a present to General Burn- 
side, from me, and tell him if he can rescue a Union woman, 
for God's sake do it." Juno also said, that one of her children 
had died on the plantation, and when her master, who was a 
rebel, sulkily refused to assist in its burial, her mistress, with 
her own fair, white hands, sawed out some boards, made a 
coffin, dug a grave and buried the little corpse. 

This woman for weeks continued to importune me with tears 
on behalf of her mistress. At hist, a boat's crew, going ashore 
for provisions, at the place where her mistress lived, rescued 
the woman and so relieved the heart of her faithful servant. 

VALUABLE SUPPLIES OBTAINED. 

A large, six foot negro, came into camp one day, and said he 
had been hard at work in the enemy's camp, but by good luck 
had got away. He came one night, in his ramb lings, upon a 
large pile of cotton, high as a house, covered with brush. Said 
he, "If you can give me a flat boat and some men, we can get 
that cotton." We took a boat, twenty negroes, and one hun- 
dred men ; every thing depending upon Charlie's caution and 
skill, and in three days the steamboat came back laden with 
the cotton, which was of great value to us as protection to our 
men in the gun-boats Its cash value was .over $26,000. 
( See Engraving, page 37, ) 

SLAVE ESCAPING BY FORGING PASSES. 

Another man came in who made 500 miles by a long cir- 
cuit. He was able to write, and in that way he forged passes 
for himself the whole way. He had worked in the rifle facto- 
ries, lately set up near Raleigh, N. C. — had lived near the rail 
road running from Raleigh to the West, and brought interest- 



30 



ing and valuable information of the passing of troops, with 
artillery and supplies, over the road. He was a good mechanic 
and a highly intelligent man. 

FORAGING EXPEDITIONS. 

As I have previously related, the men frequently led forag- 
irg parties to places where supplies, necessary for the Depart- 
ment were obtained. In this w^v, boat loads of pine and oak 
wood for the hospitals and Government offices, a steam boat 
load of cotton in bales for the protection of the gun boats, and 
numbers of horses and mules, with forage for the same for the 
Commissary's Department, cattle, swine, sheep, &c, were ob- 
tained at no other cost than the small wages of the men. With- 
out doubt, property far exceeding in value all that was ever 
paid to the blacks, was thus obtained for the Government. 




BRINGING IN SUPPLIE8 OP CATTLE. 



31 



INDUSTRY OF THE BLACKS AS COMPARED WITH THE POOR WHITES. 

Under my appointment as Superintendent of the Poor, from 
Major General Burnside, I had to attend to the suffering poor 
whites, as well as blacks. There were eighteen hundred men, 
women and children of the poor whites, who felt compelled to 
call for provisions at my office. To these eighteen hundred 
was distributed gratuitously, during three months, as follows : 

To 1,800 White People. 



Flour 76g barrels. 

Beef 116" " 

Hominy .... 4^ " 
Coffee. .... 20| " 

Sugar 241 " 

Pork 29J " 

Bacon 38 " 

Rice . . 37 

Candles .... 379 lbs 

Tea 65 



Meal 432 lbs. 

Fresh Beef 169 " 

Peas 549 " 

Salt 219 " 

Hard Bread ... 107 bxs. 

Molasses 43 gal. 

Vinegar 6 " 

Soap 39 lbs. 

Beans 7A " 



While to the seventy-five hundred poor blacks, over four 
times the number there that were of the whites, there was called 
for and given in the same time as follows : 





To 7,500 Colored People. 




Flour. . . . 


. . 19 barrels. 


Hominy 


237 lbs. 


Sugar .... 


..7 " 


Beans 


. 369 " 


Coffee... 


. . 5 " 






Rice 


..8 " 


Hard Bread . 


3262 " 


Beef 


. . U " 


Soap 


. . 805 " 


Pork 


.. 161 " 


Salt 


. 44 " 


Candles . . 


. . 27£ lbs. 


Fresh Beef. . 


19 " 


Tea 


..4 " 


Molasses .... 


31 gal. 






Vinegar .... 


15 qts. 



Or an average in most articles of sixteen times as much, was 
called for by the poor whites, as was wanted by the poor 
blacks. At that time, work was offered to both — to the whites 
at the rate of $12.00 the month, to the blacks at the rate of 
$8.00 the month. 



32 



MISCEGENATION AT THE SOUTH. 

As Superintedant of the poor, the duty of burying the dead 
was committed to me. In the fulfilment of this duty I was one 
day called upon to provide a coffin and grave for a young 
colored man, who had died under somewhat suspicious circum- 
stances. He had been, apparently, in perfect good health but 
six hours before his death ; and the only cause assigned for his 
decease was, that h s had run a small tack in bis foot a day or 
two before, and that possibly he had died of lock jaw. 

On visiting the house, or hovel, on the outskirts of the town, 
where his body lay, I found that he had been living with, and 
working fur a man who was said to be his owner, that this 
master, though the owner of twelve or fourteen slaves, was 
living in that hovel, in open concubinage with a negro woman 
who was not his slave ; that he had previously lived, at periods 
of a year or two with other negro women, and that on one or 
two occasions he had quarreled with them and threatened their 
lives. As these women were still living in huts in the imme- 
diate neighborhood, I visited them, and found that the slave 
owner had, in one instance, made an attack with a knife on his 
black paramour, and that she had barely escaped with her life. 
In proof of this assertion she exhibited her dresses and showed 
the slits in them made by the knife. 

The hovel in which this master and his black partner lived, was 
one story in height, with one window about two feet square, 
a mud chimney with a barrel on top, a broken door, covering a 
lop-sided entrance leading to an interor, consisting of but one 
room, without carpet, with two or three rickety chairs, a small 
pine table and other wretched furniture. 

The man fled on oar arrival, and though we afterwards found 
him, the difficulties of a post mortem examination sufficiently 
accurate to prove the presence of poison on the body of the 
deceased, and the press of occupation upon the few surgeons 
in the department, compelled us to release him. 

THE LICxHT COLOR OF MANY OF THE REFUGEES 

Is a marked peculiarity of the colored people of Newbern. I 
have had men and women apply for work who were so white 
that I could not believe they had a particle of negro blood in 
their veins, except upon the broad belief according to the 



33 



declaration of St. Paul " that God had made of one blood all the 
nations of the earth." I have spoken elsewhere of the great 
beauty of many of the quadroon girls who attended my school 
for the more advanced scholars. Many of them were as white 
and as comely as any Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese beauty. 
So remarkable is the difference in the color of the blacks of the 
South from these of the North, that the conviction is constantly 
forced upon the mind, that slavery if left to itself but a few 
generations longer would have died out of itself, from this cause 
alone. 





2^>- 



INDUSTRY OP THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 

The women and children supported themselves with but 
little aid from the Government, by washing and ironing, cook- 
ing and making pies, cakes, <fec, for the troops. The few 
women that were employed by the Government in the hospit- 
als received four dollars a month, clothes and one ration. 



34 




ARRIVAL OP THH; FREED PEOPLE. 

The freed people came into my yard from the neighboring 
plantations, sometimes as many as one hundred at a time, leaving 
with joy their plows in the field, and their old homes, to follow 
our soldiers when returning fnra their frequent raids ; the 
women carrying their pickaninnies and the men huge bundles of 
bedding and clothing, occasionally with a cart or old wagon, 
with a mule drawing their household stuff. They were imme- 
diately provided with food and hotcoffeo, which they seemingly 
relished highly, for they were usually both hungry and tired 
from their oftentimes long journeys and fastings. Their names 
were at once registered in the books; <md after one night's rest, 
they would find habitations in the deserted town, and be indus- 
triously at work, the men for the Government, and the women 
for themselves. 



35 



Those in the neighborhood of Newborn were ordered to re- 
port at my office, as soon as they arrived within our lines. 
They obtained quarters in the outhouses, kitchens and poorer 
classes of buildings, deserted by the citizens on the taking ol 
Newbern. They attended our free schools and churches regu- 
larly and with great eagerness. They were peaceable, orderly, 
cleanly and industrious. There was seldom a quarrel known 
among them. They considered it a duty to work for the United 
States Government : and though they could, in many cases, 
have made more money, at other occupations, there was a pub- 
lic opinion among them that tabooed any one that refused to 
work for the Government. The churches and schools estab- 
lished for their benefit, with no cost to tbe Government, were 
of great value in building up this public opinion among them. 

My office was in a fine old homestead, gracefully shaded with 
large elm, walnut, and pine trees, with a garden of over an 
acre, filled with plum, peach, apple, a_ict fig, tree;. ; with beds of 
lilies, tulips and rose bushes, heavy with clusters of those fragrant 
flowers, The trees were filled with mocking birds and othei 
charming feathered songsters. 

The consequence of this system, of having all the refugees 
report at the one central office, and of having their names, ages 
previous occupation, number in family, where they came from, 
and the place to which they were assigned to work, or where 
they went to reside, was, that we could not only always readdy 
fiud them for the special duty for which they were fitted, when- 
ever they were wanted, but, they never became vagrants or ob- 
jects of charity on our hands. As I have before remarked, we 
never could get enough of them, consequently those appeals 
for " old clothes, money, books, &c." which has been heard so 
often from other Departments, were not necessary, and for that 
reason, were never made from the Department of North Carolina, 
while I had charge of the freed people. The only appeal that 
lever made, was privately, through Mr. Larned, for some medi- 
cines for the hospital which the medical director of the depart- 
ment had not in his stores at the time, or he would have sup- 
plied me with them. On two occasions I was offered a salary 
by the freed-peoplr, if I would take charge permanently of the 
congregation of St. Andrew's Colored Church, in Newbern, 
which fact plainly proves they were no " paupers.'' 



36 



The only clothing that was distributed by the Government 
to redeem its promise of " clothes" as well as $8.00 per month, 
during my term of office, was four hundred suits of captured 
rebel uniforms, and a good supply of large size soldiers' shoes, 
turned over to me by the regimental quartermasters because 
they would not fit the white soldiers of our army, yet the money 
the freed-people earned by their well directed industry, ena- 
bled both the men and women to dress decently, and in no way 
to suffer from the lack of clothing. The Government, however, 
should have redeemed its promise, as the blacks thoroughly 
knew their rights. 

I was succeeded in office by the Rev. Mr. Means, whose faith- 
fulness in the work was proven by his laying down his life in 
the service, and the present superintendent, the Rev. Horace 
James, is one of the best friends of the freedmen to be found in 
the country. 

CHURCHES OPENED. 

Soon after our arrival in Newbern, I was invited by the 
Elders of the African Methodist Church to hold services with 
them. The local preacher, a white man, who had formerly 
presided over them, was still there and preached every Sunday 
morning ; and at three in the afternoon, they had their class 
meeting. Notwithstanding these two meetings were well at- 
tended, the services over which I was invited to take charge 
at five o'clock were usually crowded. The church had a gallery 
all round, and seated about six hundred. Another church edi- 
fice, a Baptist, which held three hundred and fifty, and had 
been closed some years, I opened, and here also I had a full 
attendance every morning, at the same time the Methodist 
Church services were being held. 

On Roanoke Island, the blacks, for want of a church edifice, 
had constructed a spacious bower, cutting down long, straight, 
pine trees and placing them parallel lengthwise for seats, with 
space enough between for their knees — constructing a rude 
pulpit out of the discarded Quartermaster's boxes, and over- 
arching the whole with a thick covering of pine branches. 
Many of their colored preachers exhort with great earnestness 
and power, and usually present the Gospel with simplicity and 
truth. 



39 



CHRISTIAN PIETY OF THE BLACKS. 

One peculiarity of great, if not vital importance that must 
be considered in forming a plan for the proper and judicious 
treatment of this people, is their earnest and loving faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Without the ability to read, except in a 
very few instances, with bu little leisure to attend places of 
public worship, and through long and painful years of oppres- 
sion, they have been blessed by the grace of God, with a sim- 
plicity and clearness of understanding of the fundamental doc- 
trines of the truth of salvation as it is in Jesus Christ, that is 
most astonishing. If one would learn what precious comfort 
may be found in Christianity, in the midst of the severest 
trials, with which human nature can be afflicted, let him go 
among this people. In tho evening after the toils of the day 
are over, you will hear from the cabin of nearly every family, 
the sweet sound of hymns, sung with plaintive and touching 
pathos to some familiar tune, and listen quietly as you pass by, 
and you will hear it followed by tho earnestly beseeching voice 
of prayer. Their religious meetings are usually crowded. 
Before the rebellion broke out, these meetings had been dis- 
couraged by the State authorities, whether from fear of the 
slaves I cannot say, though I always heard this given as the 
reason. 

THEIR DISLIKE OF THE REBELS. 

When our army took Newbern, about fifty of the enemy's 
wounded under the care of two of their surgeons fell into our 
hands. These two doctors made constant complaints of their 
inability to get any of the negroes to assist them in the hos- 
pital. As we found no difficulty in having always plenty of 
excellent help from the blacks in that way, remembering how 
cruelly many of our wounded at the previous battles of Bull 
Run and elsewhere had been treated by the rebels, and desir- 
ous to set a good example, I tried hard to remedy the defect, 
and sent a number of negroes to their assistance, but all to no 
purpose. At last, at a prayer-meeting one evening, I appealed 
to their religious faith, calling their attention to those passages 
in our Saviour's teachings, when he says : " If thine enemy 
hunger feed him, and if he thirst, give him drink f and then 



40 



told them of the euemy's hospital, and calling their attention 
to the fact, that these misguided people were now in our hands 
as prisoners of war. I asked them if there were not four Chris- 
tian men among them, who would, for the sake of the Saviour, 
forego their dislike, and volunteer to take care of the hospital 
for us. Pour gave in their names, and served in the hospital 
faithfully for two months, until the rebels were exchanged. 

The duties of the day, at my office, were always opened with 
prayer, singing and reading a chapter of the Bible, and every 
black about the place, usually from ten to twenty, attended 
these services cheerfully. For quiet, cleanliness and order, 
I will venture to say, the head-quarters of the Superintendent 
of the Poor, though frequently crowded with hundreds of poor 
whites and blacks, compared favorably with any other office 
in the Department. 



SPREAD OP SMALL POX PREVENTED. 

A colored servant, from the North, of one of the officers of the 
3rd N.Y. Heavy Artilery, was one day sent to me by the Surgeon 
of the regiment, after he, the servant, had broken out with the 
Small Pox. I found that I could get no doctor, either in the army 
or in the town, to see to him, and the negroes had the greatest 
dread "of this disease. After being compelled to nurse him 
myself, at no little trouble of changing my clothes each day 
that I visited him, for fear the blacks would catch it, I was 
led to inquire as to how many of them had ever been vaccinated ; 
and found, to my surprise, that hardly one of them replied in 
the affirmative. Finding that some of the Surgeons of the Army 
had a good supply of vaccine matter, I stated the fact to Dr. 
Clark of Worcester, Mass., and he kindly offered and imme- 
diately proceeded to vaccinate all the refugees in Newbern. 

After a vain search of several days for a nurse, at last, I 
found an old black woman who had had the small pox, and she 
consented to take charge of him. I had him conveyed to a hut 
on the outskirts of the town, some distance from our office. One 
very rainy day the old nurse came all dripping with wet and bent 
with age, to get some comforts for her patient, and on my 
pittying her forlorn condition and admiring her faithfulness, 



41 



she exclaimed with an earnestness and pathos, I shall long 
remember. " Yes I The blessed Jesus did not die on the Cross/or 
tJie white man only I" 




TUK OLD NURSE. 



HOSPITAL FOE FREEDMEN FOUNDED. 

This case of small pox, above referred to, induced me to apply 
to General Burnside to have an hospital for the blacks under 
Goverment employ, established, and he at once gave his consent ; 
and General Foster issued an order for Dr. Clark to take charge 
of it. About one hundred patients were successively cared for in 
it, and a few died. Most of the medicines were furnished by 
some liberal people at the North, through an application made 
to them by Mr. B. R. Larned, the General's private secretary. 

With the exception of my excellent Assistant, Mr. Mendell — 
a soldier detailed from a Massachusetts Regiment— I had col- 
ored help for every purpose. My Assistant Secretary, Amos 
Yorke, from whom I give a letter in another page, was an in- 
telligent and worthy Christian. Another, Samuel Williams, of 
whom I have previously spoken as guide to a regiment, was 
out-door overseer. At times, he had charge of three hundred 
men, and they rarely ever quarrelled. His father, Jacob Coonce, 



42 



was store-keeper. He was intelligent and trustworthy: thousands 
of dollars worth of goods went through his hands, in small par- 
cels, and were conscientiously accounted for. 

THEIR USEFULNESS AS SERVANTS, ETC. 

One of the services, most generally useful, rendered by the 
freedmen in North Carolina, and I presume it is the same 
wherever the Union army has gone, has been their work about 




CHOPPING WOOD AND COOKING KOIt THE HOSPITALS. 

the camps. As servants to the officers and men, in waiting 
upon them, cooking, splitting wood, as teamsters, hostlers, 
porters, &c, who can estimate the amount of good they have 
done, or the number of lives they have saved. This labor, too, 
was generally performed with so much cheerfulness and good 
humor, that they were very popular in the army. 



43 



SCHOOLS FOB WHITE CHILDREN 



Having charge of the poor white people, I haa opened a 
school for the instruction of their children, in which I had en- 
gaged a young lady teacher, a resident ot the town, to instruct 
about seventy white children. This school, together with 
nearly all that I was privileged to do for the poor white 
people, was a source of constant joy to me. It was the delight 
also of many of the officers of the Union Army, and was visited 
by them, Generals Burnside and Reno, contributing some- 
thing to its support. I could say much of the gratitude and 
affection with which the officers and men of the Union Army 
were received by the poor white people of Newbera, and of 
the estimable character of many of them ; but, I am writing 
in this report, only of the blacks. 

SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED. — THE COLORED SCHOOLS. 

The colored refugees evinced the utmost eagerness to learn 
to read. I had taken with me some spelling books and prim- 
ers, and these were seized with great avidity. The sutlers 
also sold large numbers of these and other books. 

With the consent of Gen. Foster two evening schools for the 
colored people were commenced by me, over eight hundred 
pupils, old and young, attended nightly, and made rapid pro- 
gress. In the larger school of six hundred, I placed those who 
did not know the alphabet, who could hardly spell ; in the 
smaller of two hundred, I had the most advanced, those who 
could read. Some of the scholars in this latter school were 
very bright, and among the young women were a number of 
quadroons, some quite beautiful. 

In the school for those who could read and write which 
usually had an attendance of between one and two hundred. 
I used books, slates, &c, with teachers placed over classes. 

The two African churches at Newbern, were used for our 
school rooms. I took a large white cotton sheet, and with 
black ink wrote in large letters some brief passage from the 
scripture, such as " Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you," and suspending it over the pulpit, where all could see it, 
with a large pointer I made them all go over, first the letters, 



44 



then the syllables, then the whole sentence together, and 
usually in half an hour, I could get the whole school to know 
it by heart. 

The exercises were opened with a prayer and a hymn, and 
closed with a single verse and the benediction. 

The soldiers in the New England regiments kindly volun- 
teered as teachers. I had some thirty or more from the 25th 
Massachusetts Volunteers. Some of these young men were 
graduates of the first colleges in the North. 

These schools had been under way about six weeks when 
Governor Stanley arrived. On his making known to me his 
opposition to their continued existence, I stopped them. 

Governor Stanley was appointed Military Governor of North 
Carolina by President Lincoln in the early part of May 1862, 
and in his political policy he followed that of the Border States, 
which aimed to restore the Union and preserving slavery. 

The closing of these schools is thus described by the Newbern 
correspondents of the Times, who writes under date of May 31, 
and from whose letter we copy : 

CLOSING THE SCHOOLS FOR CONTRABANDS. 

" The schools established by Mr. Colyer for the instruction of the 
colored people were suddenly closed on Wednesday evening. It was 
the first administrative act of the new Governor, since whose advent 
the military authority seems, to a great extent, suspended. At the 
Methodist church in Hancock street in this citv. Mr. Colyer addressed 
the contrabands, saying : 

" These schools are now to be closed, not by the officer of the army, 
under whose sanction they have been commenced, but by the neces- 
sity laid upon me by Governor Stanley, who has informed me that it 
is a criminal offence, under the laws of North Carolina, to teach the 
blacks to read, which laws he has come from Washington with instruc- 
tions to enforce." 

The teacher said he hoped that the schools would be closed only for 
a brief time, and exhorted them to submit patiently to the deprivation 
like good, law abiding people, such as they had always proved them- 
selves to be. Those who followed the injunction before them, on the 
pulpit and trusted in the Saviour, who had given the command, would 
not only have this blessing restored to them, but must ultimately en- 
joy, even greater blessings than this. 




The first Public School for Colored People in North Carolina, 
Established by Vincent Colter, April, 1862 



47 



The old people dropped their heads upon their breasts and wept in 
silence ; the young looked at each other with mute surprise and grief 
at this sudden termination of their bright hopes. It was a sad and 
impressive spectacle. Mr. Colyer himself could hardly conceal his 
emotion. A few moments of sileuce followed, when, as if by one ira 
pulse, the whole audience rose and sang with mournful cadence, 
" Praise God from whom all blessings flow," and then shook hands and 
parted. 

The school at the Baptist Church, where the more advanced 
scholars were placed, was closed in a similar manner." 

INDIGNATION OP THE PEOPLE OP THE NORTH. 

This closing of the colored schools attracted great attention 
throughout the country, and on coming North soon after, on a 
brief leave of absence, I found that the Rev. Dr. Tyng, Mr. 
Caldwell, of Pennsylvania, and other active Christians, had 
called the attention of the Government to it. 

The press was loud in its denunciations of Governor Stan- 
ley, and of the Government for appointing men with such 
views, and I was called upon to address several public meet- 
ings, held for this special object. 

The Governor had not only suggested to me to close my 
schools for the blacks, but had returned several fugitive slaves 
to their owners. Up to the time of Governor Stanley's arrival, 
the refugees had been all practically free, none had been re- 
turned to their masters by General Burnside, so that Governor 
Stanley's course appeared all the more odious. 

This returning of the refugee slaves to their masters is thus 
described by Mr. Elias Smith of the N. Y. Times, writing from 
Newbern, May 31st, 1862. 

SENDING BACK THE BLACKS. 

" Yesterday the Governor was waited upon by large numbers of the 
residents, in and out of town, who congratulated him upon the 
auspicious beginning of his administration. Among others, several 
persons applied for the restoration of their fugitive property who have 
sought protection from the tyranny of the plantation within our lines. 
One Nicholas Bray, living a few miles from town on the Falmouth 
road, obtained an order to carry off his slave woman. With his wife 
he proceeded to a building where one of them was staying, and dragged 



48 



her forth and drove away with her to the plantation. Her sister, 
a bright mulatto young woman of unusual attractions, hearing of the 
proceeding, was made almost frantic, and sought asylum at the only 
place she knew — the headquarters of the poor. Elated at his success, 
Bray drove up and without ceremony began a search of the premises- 
Mr. Colyer at the time was away. Apprised of his coming, Harriet 
flew with lightning speed, and concealed herself in an out-building 
almost under the eaves of General Burnside's headquarters. Not 
finding the object of his search Bray drove off, probably to renew the 
search at a more convenient season. Harriet is only seventeen years 
of age, and Bray asserts that he has been offered fifteen hundred 
dollars for her. 

Bray is a brother-in-law of A. G. Ewbank, the quartermaster of the 
rebel militia lately in this place. He is a well known rebel ; was 
mustered into the service, it is said, and only escaped taking part in 
the battle of Newbern oh account of some alleged injury to his back. 
He promised to take the oath of allegiance. 

Several other orders were given for the capture and taking away of 
slaves from the town. Four were reported to have been captured and 
carried out of our lines yesterday. 




FLIGHT OF THE NEGROES. 



" Frightened at the turn of affairs, a number of the slaves who have 
congregated in the town had scattered^, like a flock of frightened birds. 




Repairing Railroad, etc. 



51 



Some have taken to the swamps, and others have concealed themselves 
in out-of-the-way places. A perfect panic prevails among them. The 
greater part who were employed on the fortifications are so much 
alarmed at the prospect of being returned to their enraged masters, 
and being punished, that they are of little use as laborers. 

It is believed that many will find their way to the rebel lines, and, 
in order to make friends with them, will reveal important facts touching 
the condition of affairs in this department. The slaves express the 
greatest horror at the prospect of being sent back to their old homes, 
and say that they will be unmercifully " cut up " for having absconded. 
One old man of sixty told me to-day that he would rather be placed 
before a cannon and blown to pieces than go back. Multitudes say 
they would rather die." 

INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Soon after coming North, on the 5th of June, 1862,1 visited 
Washington, and in company with the Hon. Charles Sumner, 
called upon the President. Mr. Lincoln, received me cour- 
teously, and as if he anticipated the nature of our errand. 
After introducing the subject in general terms, Mr. Sumner 
asked me to repeat the substance of the conversation between 
Governor Stanley and myself. This I did. When I came to 
that part of the Governor's declaration where he states that he 
had instructions to enforce the local laws of North Carolina, the 
President remarked that that was a misapprehension on the 
part of the Governor that he could have had no such instruc- 
tions, and if he had they were unlawful. The President then 
inquired as to the nature of my work and the character of my 
mission, which as briefly as possible I told him. Mr. Sumner 
then requested me to state the way in which the Schools 
were closed, which I did. When I told the President of the 
return of the freed people to their former masters, he exclaimed 
with great earnestness of manner : 

" Well this I have always maintained, and shall insist on, that 
" no slave who once comes within our lines a fugitive from a 
" rebel, shall ever be returned to his master. For my part I 
" have hated slavery from my childhood." I could not help 
saying, thank the Lord for that. 

On our way home Mr. Sumner said to me " you have seen 
more of the real character of the President, and have heard a 



52 



more important declaration than is usually seen or beard in a 
hundred ordinary interviews." 

When President Lincoln issued his Proclamation of Freedom, 
September, 1862, being about three months after these things 
occurred, and included North Carolina in the list of States to 
receive the immeasurable blessings of that beneficent measure, 
we could not but feel that the hand of God was in it, and that 
He had, perhaps, been pleased to use us as an humble instru- 
ment, to help bring about this glorious result. * 

On my return to Newbern, Governor Stanley assured me 
that I had quite misunderstood him, and desired me to state 
this for him, to the public, which I did most gladly in the 
following letter to the New York papers : 

Newbern, N. C, June 24, 1862. 
His Excellency Governor Stanley takes exception to the statement 
in my speech in New York, to the effect that I said that he intended 
to enforce the laws of North Carolina, and desires me to say " that I 
misunderstood him ; that he never intended to enforce those laws, and 
that with regard to interfering with my schools for colored people, or 
the return of fugitive slaves to their masters, he would await speciiic 
instructions from the Government at Washington, D. C," which state- 
ment I am most happy to make. 

Vincent Colyer, 
Superintendent of the Poor. 

*The Boston Liberator publishes a letter from the late Owen Love- 
joy, addressed to Wm. Lloyd Garrison, under date of Washington, Feb. 
22d, 1864. In this letter Mr. Lovejoy says : 

" Recurring to the President, there are a great many reports con- 
cerning him which seem to be reliable and authentic, which, after all, 
are not so. It was currently reported among the anti-slavery men of 
Illinois, that the emancipation Proclamation was extorted from him by 
the outward pressure, and particularly by the delegation from the 
Christian Convention that met at Chicago. Now the fact is this, as I 
had it from his own lips : He had written the Proclamation in the 
summer, as early as June, I think, — but will not be certain as to the 
precise time, — and called his Cabinet together, and informed them that 
he had written it, and he meant to make it ; but wanted to read it to 
them for any criticism or remarks as to its features or details. After 
having done so, Mr. Seward suggested whether it would not be well 
for him to withold its publication until after we had gained some sub- 
stantial advantage in the field, as at that time we had met with many 
reverses, and it might be considered a cry of despair. He told me he 
thought the suggestion a wise one, and so held over the Proclamation 
until after the battle of Antietam. 



55 



Many of my friends misunderstanding this letter, supposing it 
to be a retraction on my part, were much offended at me ; but, 
if they will look at the wording of it they will perceive that I 
simply say that " Governor Stanley requested me to say that I 
misunderstood him." I did not say that I had misunderstood him 
— for that I never had. What I had stated of his interview 
with me, and of his declaration that " he was instructed at 
Washington, to enforce the local laivs of North Carolina" was 
strictly true. 

Governor Stanley in a letter which he addressed to some 
rebel official at Raleigh, N. C, published soon after, endeavored 
to give it this interpretation by intimating that I retracted ; 
but by doing this he only committed himself all the more 
irrevocably to the Free State Policy, into which he had, seem- 
ingly, been driven by this manifestation of popular feeling at 
the North. As the friends of the oppressed had obtained a signal 
advantage, and the right of the refugee slaves to their freedom, 
and to be educated, had been efficently secured, in the flush 
of conscious victory to our cause, perhaps I was not so careful in 
the wording of my note as I might have been. 

The searching of my premises for Harriet, the slave girl, by 
Bray, and his carrying back of another, having an order in 
writing from Governor Stanley, permitting him to do so ; the 
order given to the captain of the steamer " Haze," — and it was 
said to others — forbidding him from taking any freedmen North, 
under pain of the confiscation of his vessel ; the promise to 
Mr. Perry, of $1,000 for the man Sam Williams, whom I had 
taken North with me ; the demand upon General Burnside for 
that amount, because I had not returned Sam ; the expatriation 
of Mr. Helper ; all these acts of Governor Stanley, which 
were known to hundreds, make it unnecessary for me to say 
any more. 

RESIGNATION OF GOVERNOR STANLEY. 

His Excellency resigned his office on the receipt of the 
President's proclamation. 

SUPERINTENDENTS OP THE FREEDMEN. 

The freedmen at Roanoke Island and vicinity were under 

the immediate control of Col. Rush Hawkins, of the Zouaves, 

Lot'C 



56 



9th N. Y. Volunteers, commandant of that post. Sergeant 
Thompson was their Superintendent. Those on the rail road 
between Carolina City and Newbern, and at the former place 
were under Capt. Hall, A. Q. M. to Genl. Reno's Division. 
Those at Washing-ton were under Col. Potter, commandant of 
the post — Mr. Phillabrown, the engineer, being their Superin- 
tendent. Those at the fort and bridge at Newbern, the former 
under Mr. J. Cross, as Superintendent, and the latter under 
Mr. Wilson, the builder. 

JUSTICE TO THE BLACKS UNDER GENERAL BURNSIDE. 

All those gentlemen, without exception, were just, kind- 
hearted and humane men, as their various orders, rules and 
regulations, issued for the protection of the blacks, would tes- 
tify, if we had space for them here. And it is to this fact, 
namely, the great kindness of nearly all the officers under Genl. 
Burnside, that the well-known activity, usefulness, and con- 
tentment of the blacks in the Department of North Carolina 
are to be attributed. 

GENERAL BURNSIDE's HEADQUARTERS, NEWBERN, N. C. 

I have introduced the picture of General Burnside's Head- 
quarters at Newbern, because it is associated in my mind with 
so much that was appreciative and kind hearted towards the ne- 
groes. Many a faithful scout and footsore refugee, fresh from 
their hazardous journeys through the enemy's lines, have I 
taken into those headquarters. Whether at early dawn or twi- 
light, high noon or midnight, it was all the same, the General 
received us promptly, and usually with a cheerful welcome. 
Sometimes Generals Reno, Foster and Parks would be there, 
when the reception would be only so much the more cordial. 
General Burnside, though by no means an abolitionist, had too 
much sagacity to despise the services of the blacks, and is too 
large hearted a man to love slavery. 

LOYALTY OF THE FREEDMAN. 

Of the seventy-five hundred colored persons under my 
charge in Newbern, I never knew but one who was suspected 
of disloyalty. This man was arrested on a charge of carrying 
salt to the enemy. After the most careful examination, he 



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was acquitted, and left free to go to his home, which was at a small 
farm near the enemy's lines. Although he was entirely ex- 
onerated from all suspicion, he came to me and desired an 
interview, in order that he might remove all doubts from 
my mind, if I had any. He was greatly distressed at the mere 
suspicion. 

Of all that I ever met, I cannot remember one that did not 
love liberty and hate slavery. All desired the success of the 
Union cause, and the overthrow of the rebellion. Loyalty, 
with them, was seemingly a personal matter of the most in- 
tense importance to pray for, to work, and, if need be, to die 
for. 

Of their ability to take care of themselves without the aid 
of a master, I will mention the one instance of the man Sam 
who came with me. In the ten months that he has been here 
to the North, he has earned money enough, besides his ex- 
penses, to buy two lots of ground back of Brooklyn, L. L, with 
three hundred dollars, and has eighty dollars in the Savings 
Bank, 



GEATITUDE OF THE COLORED MEN. 

They are said to be dull and ungrateful. In refutation of 
this I append a letter from an escaped slave received since 
my return. The writer is a leading man among his people. 

Newbern, August 27, 1862. 

Mr. Vincent Colyer, 

Sir : — With pleasure I write these few 
lines to inform you that I and my family are well, and to hope that you 
and your family are enjoying the blessings of good health. 

I should have liked to have had a conversation with you be- 
fore you left Newbern for good ; but as I did not, I yet hope to see 
you again. There are great inquiries for you by the people of color in 
Newbern ; they are much at a loss for they have no one now to apply 
to for comfort or satisfaction ; no one that sympathizes with them as 
you did. Sir, I must say if the President of the United States was 
dead, the Union army could not mourn his loss more than the people 
of Newbern do the loss of you. 



60 



The Elders of St. Andrew's Chapel, J. C. Rew, Louis Williams, 
William Ryol, R. M. Tucker, give their best respects to you and your 
family. 

I would like to say more, but I must close by saying if I should 
never meet you again in this life, I hope to meet you. 

" In that world of spirits bright, 

Who take their pleasure there, 
Where all are clothed in Bpotless white, 

And conquering palms they bear." 

T should be happy to receive a few lines from you. 
Your most obedient servant, 

AMOS YORKE. 



When I returned in June, to re-open my schools, the colored 
people had generally heard of the manifestation of public feel- 
ing on the subject of the closing of these schools by Governor 
Stanley, and my interview with the President on the subject. 
They had also heard many bitter and ill-natured things said 
about me by our enemies in Newbern during my brief absence. 
Yet as soon as they heard of my arrival there, they came, 
in the face of the persecution to which both they and I 
were, for the time, subjected, and brought me presents of 
flowers, cake, fruit, chickens, eggs, &c, and manifested their 
affection in many ways. They were proverbially respectful 
in their behavior to every one ; but they were particularly so 
to me after that ; the men touching their caps, the women 
courtesying. As the city was then full of them, I believe I 
received more salutations from the blacks than the Command- 
ing General did from the whites. 

I cannot better close this brief report than by calling the 
attention of the Christian reader to the engraving on page 
61, representing some of the services rendered by the freed 
people on the evening and morning alter the battle of New- 
bern, in nursing and attending the sick and wounded soldiers 
of our army. 




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BUREAU FOR FREEDMEN S AFFAIRS. 

You have been pleased to do me the honor to ask my opin- 
ion on the method of organizing a Department for the general 
supervision of these worthy people, in their present con- 
dition. It seems to m^ a very simple matter. Act towards 
them precisely as though they were white people. 

First, the Government must protect them : positively, une- 
quivocally, by fixed, clearly defined, strong orders from the U. 
S. Government through the War and Navy Departments. 
These loyal and, at the present time, invaluable people, must 
be treated humanely and justly, as good loyal freemen. The 
same punishments that are inflicted when white men are in- 
jured, must be awarded to those who injure the blacks. And 
the same reward, be it wages or honorable mention, that is 
given to the former who serve the Government faithfully, must 
be given also to the latter. 

To enforce these orders from the War Department, I think 
the plan you spoke of a good one, to have a Bureau and 
Central office at Washington, D. C, with full appointment of 
clerks, District and Assistant Superintendents, with clerks and 
overseers to aid them at their respective places, to report to 
this Central Bureau. But let it be a Bureau for the protection 
and elevation of the Blacks, and not merely for their restraint. 
The details necessary to perfect such a plan could be readily 
obtained of the present Superintendents, and other men of 
experience. 

You would thus bring under one proper central office, and 
under one uniform general system, that which is now loose, 
irregular and unmanageable. It is essential to have a place of 
refuge for the blacks on their first arrival within our camps, 
and an office where all the able-bodied men, with their names, 
ages, occupations, &c, shall be recorded, to which all the de- 
partments of the army and navy can apply when they need 
men. 

The whole system to be abandoned, if possible, when the 
war is over. 

With high regard, 

Very respectfully yours, 

VINCENT COLYER. 

To Hon. ROBERT DALE OWEN, 

Chairman of Freedman's Inquiry Commission. 



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INDEX. 



Page. 
Ability of Scouts, or inefficency of 

Guards 26 

An Escape without Discourage- 
ment 24 

Arrival of Freed People 34 

Bureau for Freedraen's Affairs. ... 63 

Character of the Scouts 16 

Churches Opened 36 

Christian Piety of the Blacks 39 

Closing of the Schools by Governor 

Stanley 44 

Dislike of the Rebels 39 

Expedition Planned by a Freed- 

man 24 

Fears of Flank Movement Dismissed 23 

Foraging Expeditions 30 

Gratitude of the Colored People . 59 

Hints to Scouts in Future Service . .. 24 

Honorable Mention 25 

Hospital Founded 41 

Industry of the Blacks compared 

with the Poor Whites 31 

Indignation of the people of the 

North 47 



Page. 

Interview with President Lincoln, . 51 
Justice to the blacks under Gen. 

Burnside 56 

Loyalty of the Freed People 56 

Mistress Rescued by her Slave 26 

Miscegenation at the South ...... 32 

Negroes not a Burthen 6 

Number of Freed People in North 

Carolina 6 

Old Nurse 41 

Refugees from Alabama 22 

Refugees from South Carolina. ... 22 

Resignation of Gov. Stanley 55 

Superintendents of Freemen 55 

Services as Spies 10 

Story of Win. Kinnegy 16 

Slave Escaping by Forging Passes. 29 

Small Pox Prevented 40 

Schools for White Children 43 

Schools for Colored People 43 

Sending back the Slaves 47 

The Work done by (hem 9 

Usefulness as Servants 42 

Valuable Supplies Obtained 29 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Arrival of Freed People 34 

Blacksmith Shop 11 

Bringing in Supplies of Cattle 30 

Cotton Hoarding in the Swamps 37 

Chopping Wood and Cooking for Hospitals 42 

Furney Bryant as the Refugee 13 

Furney Bryant as Union Soldier 14 

Furney Bryant Defending Newbern 18 

Freedmen as Union Scouts 23 

First School for Colored People in North Carolina 45 

Flight of the Negroes 48 

General Burnside's PrivatejCarriage 53 

General Burnside's Head-Quarters, Newbern 57 

Industry of the Women and Children 33 

The Old Nurse 41 

Placing the Stockade in Building the Forts 7 

Repairing Railroads, etc 49 

Services on the Battle Field 61 

The Freedman Frontispiece. 

The Union Scout 27 

William Kinnegy bringing in hi* Family 21 



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